[erlang-questions] Ways to get started

[Josh Johnston]

I'd like to add to this and say that when I started out with erlang, Makefiles were one of the hurdles I faced.  Having never written a makefile before it seemed an unnecessarily cryptic way to get files compiled.  Of course, there were plenty of examples out there and I was able to _mostly_ get it to do what I wanted.

But like Joe describes below, it doesn't need to be like that.  My epiphany came the day that I realized what my makefile was doing: stepping through .erl files, and using erlc to create .beam files.  No magic.  With that realization it took me 5 minutes and a few lines of php to do _exactly_ what I wanted and never have to bend my head around a makefile again.  Those who have spent years writing makefiles might find this a little stupid :P  But to me it removed the hurdle and made it easy to get stuff done, which is why we write code, right? :)

It seems that complicated tools and processes can often hide the underlying simplicity.  Of course you might get to a point where you need those tools, but for a beginner the most important thing is to dispel the illusion and see how simple it actually can be.

Josh.

On 12/07/2011, at 6:49 AM, Joe Armstrong wrote:

> I'm old school - you don't need any fancy tools. Just a text
> edit and an erlang shell.
> 
> Open your text editor:
> 
> Type in the following program.
> 
>    -module(hello).
>    -compile(export_all).
>     start() -> "hello world".
> 
> store it in a file called hello.erl
> 
> Start and erlang shell. It will say ">"
> Type in two commands:
> 
>> c(hello).
>> hello:start().
> 
> The first command compiles the program. The second evaluates
> the command hello:start()
> 
> Thats all it takes - typing three lines of code into a file
> with a text editor - then typing two lines into the shell.
> 
> That's all it takes. 95% of all the fun can be achieved with a simple
> text editor and the erlang shell. That's how most of the erlang system
> was implemented.
> 
> The erlang shell can be installed in zillions of ways - compile the
> sources or apt-get install it (or whatever)
> 
> Forget about git/IDEs/rebar etc.
> 
> Use this approach for all languages.
> 
> IDEs and build tools are the single biggest obstacle I know
> of to getting started.
> 
> Me I use
> 
>  - a shell
>  - makefiles
>  - emacs
> 
> for all know programming languages under the sun.
> 
> 98% of all the fun can be had with the compiler alone - all the rest
> is hype.
> 
> Forget about the tools -
> 
> Tools like rebar etc are under to automate something but if you don't
> know what it is that you are automating and if the tool doesn't work
> you will just end up being incredible confused.
> 
> Then buy a decent book and type in the programs by hand.
> One at a time thinking as you go.
> 
> After 30 years you will get the hang of this and be a good programmer.
> 
> Tools are no substitute for typing in small programs and
> understanding exactly how they work. This is true for all programming
> language. Programming is an art form, there is no easy way.
> Like playing the violin - is there an easy way of playing the violin other
> than by practising for thousands of hours? I think not.
> 
> Start with one liners in the shell,  start the shell:
> 
> type
>> A = 1
> 
> then
> 
>> A = 2
> 
> ask what happens and why.
> 
> There is no quick way to learn programming - no tool will help.
> 
> Your brain is a zillion times better than the best IDE. programs
> form in you brain not in an IDE.
> 
> But then I'm old school.
> 
> Have fun - if it's not fun it is pointless - don't fight the tools
> all you need is a text editor and the erlang shell to start with.
> 
> /Joe
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 10:27 PM, Mihai Balea <mihai@REDACTED> wrote:
>> 
>> On Jul 11, 2011, at 2:13 PM, Garrett Smith wrote:
>> 
>> I'd be curious to know what editor/IDE/toolset people use other than
>> Emacs. Catch is, you have to be overall happy with it :)
>> 
>> I use Text Mate, it's fast and there's a decent Erlang bundle available.
>> CLI for building and everything else.
>> 
>> 
>> Use a system package (e.g. aptitude, yum, pacman) or a mainstream
>> installer. I wouldn't mess with compiling from scratch, much less
>> getting source from github.
>> 
>> I always build from the official sources. It's quite easy, basically just
>> configure, make, sudo make install
>> Distro packages tend to be outdated, Mac packagers as well.
>> 
>> Mihai
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