Upcoming article in Dr. Dobbs'

Vlad Dumitrescu vlad_dumitrescu@REDACTED
Mon Jan 10 12:07:17 CET 2005


Hi,

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Armstrong (AL/EAB)" <joe.armstrong@REDACTED>
>   Erlang is the only language I know of that is well placed to program
multiCPUs
> all other approaches use some form sharing and or locking (which as I have
said many
> times before - is the root of all evil)

Yes, but when the "others" will realize what's needed, what stops them to
incorporate the Erlang model into (for example) Java or C#, or even C++? Given
that technical wars are won with massive marketing and not necessarily by being
best, the result is not given...

I think there's a problem with using a niched language: it's difficult to find
developers.

What will a manager do: wear down the relatively few people he/she has that know
Erlang, or support any ongoing project that aims at replacing the existing
platform with (say) a C++ one so that there are plenty of fresh heads to put to
work? Even if Erlang development is so much more efficient, one still needs a
critical mass of developers in order to handle new projects, maintenance and
support.

Of course, we (as Erlang developers) will still have an edge because we are
accustomed to thinking the Erlang way. But it won't be Erlang...

On the other hand, instead of changing Java (language and VM) to fit the Erlang
model, maybe it's easier to compile Java-like syntax to beam. After all, syntax
is just, well, syntax.

We'll see what the future brings.

regards,
Vlad



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