[erlang-questions] hobbyists, erlang, elixir (was Improve $handle_undefined_function)

[Simon St.Laurent]

Evan Miller wrote:
> I worry that Erlang is missing out on a lot of potential developer
> talent because the platform's benefits tend to be back-loaded: it's
> great for the big-scale stuff, but it can be painful for a newcomer
> just tinkering around and seeing if stuff works. A hobbyist has to be
> both extremely tenacious and perhaps delusional to stick with Erlang
> long enough to realize the platform's benefits.

I agree that there are a lot of people who could benefit from Erlang, 
and who don't participate because they think it's only for huge systems. 
  I'm having fun, but will admit that I could get a lot of things done 
faster in other languages.

Is the answer Elixir?  It might be.  I'm certainly considering 
'translating' Introducing Erlang.  I don't think a simple translation 
would be hard, though I suspect I'd have to restructure a fair amount.

One way or another, it's not hard to imagine a world of people getting 
Erlang's benefits if we can make it seem friendlier.  There's little 
reason for Erlang to be the preserve only of people who write huge systems.

Thanks,
-- 
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/