The blog post "Gleam, Coming from Erlang" explores the author's experience transitioning from Erlang to Gleam, a newer language built on the Erlang Virtual Machine (BEAM). It highlights Gleam's similarities to Erlang, such as its functional nature, immutability, and the benefits of the BEAM ecosystem like concurrency and fault tolerance. However, the author emphasizes key differences, primarily Gleam's static typing, more approachable syntax inspired by Rust and Elm, and its focus on clearer error messages. While acknowledging some current limitations in tooling and library availability compared to Erlang's mature ecosystem, the post ultimately presents Gleam as a promising alternative for building robust, concurrent applications, particularly for developers coming from other statically-typed languages who might find Erlang's syntax challenging.
This blog post, titled "Gleam, Coming from Erlang," explores the author's experience transitioning from Erlang to Gleam, a newer language designed to compile to Erlang. The author begins by highlighting their extensive background with Erlang and Elixir, emphasizing a deep appreciation for the Erlang virtual machine (BEAM) and its robust ecosystem. They praise Erlang's fault tolerance, concurrency model, and tooling, establishing these as key features they sought to retain when exploring alternative languages.
The post then introduces Gleam, characterizing it as a statically-typed language that offers several advantages over Erlang while maintaining compatibility with the BEAM. The author systematically compares and contrasts Gleam with Erlang, focusing on key differences in syntax, type systems, and tooling.
One significant difference highlighted is Gleam's static typing. The author explains how this contributes to enhanced code clarity, improved error detection during compilation, and better tooling support, like autocompletion and refactoring, compared to Erlang's dynamic typing. They elaborate on how Gleam's type system helps prevent common runtime errors, leading to more robust and maintainable code. Furthermore, they discuss the benefits of improved tooling afforded by static typing, which streamlines the development process.
The post also details Gleam's syntax, describing it as being influenced by languages like Rust and Elm, which results in a more familiar and arguably more readable syntax for developers coming from those backgrounds. Specific examples are provided to illustrate how Gleam’s syntax differs from Erlang’s, showcasing its arguably cleaner and more concise nature.
Crucially, the author underscores the interoperability between Gleam and Erlang. They explain how Gleam code can seamlessly integrate with existing Erlang libraries and projects, allowing developers to leverage the vast Erlang ecosystem. This interoperability is presented as a significant advantage, facilitating a gradual adoption of Gleam within existing Erlang projects. The ability to call Erlang code from Gleam and vice-versa is emphasized, allowing for a smooth transition and mixed codebases.
Finally, the post concludes with the author's positive overall impression of Gleam. They reiterate the benefits of Gleam's static typing and modern syntax while preserving the advantages of the Erlang ecosystem. The author portrays Gleam as a viable option for both new projects targeting the BEAM and for incrementally modernizing existing Erlang projects. They suggest that Gleam offers a compelling blend of modern language features and the proven reliability of the Erlang VM, making it an attractive choice for developers seeking improved developer experience and code maintainability without sacrificing the benefits of the BEAM.
Summary of Comments ( 57 )
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43169323
Hacker News commenters generally expressed interest in Gleam, praising its friendly syntax and the benefits it inherits from the Erlang ecosystem, like the BEAM VM. Some saw it as a potentially strong competitor to Elixir, appreciating its stricter type system and simpler tooling. A few users familiar with Erlang questioned the necessity of Gleam, suggesting that learning Erlang directly might be more worthwhile. Performance comparisons with Elixir and other BEAM languages were also a topic of discussion, with some expressing hope for benchmarks. A recurring sentiment was curiosity about Gleam's potential to attract a larger community and gain wider adoption. Several commenters also appreciated the author's candid comparison between Gleam and Erlang, finding the article helpful for understanding Gleam's niche.
The Hacker News post titled "Gleam, Coming from Erlang" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43169323) has generated several comments discussing various aspects of Gleam and its relationship to Erlang.
Several commenters discuss the benefits of Gleam's type system and its impact on developer experience. One user highlights how Gleam allows for compile-time verification of data structures, reducing runtime errors and enhancing overall code reliability, something they contrast positively with Erlang. Another commenter specifically appreciates the improvements Gleam offers in terms of error messages compared to Erlang, suggesting that this makes it a more approachable language for newcomers. The ability to refactor with greater confidence due to the type system is also mentioned as a significant advantage.
The discussion also touches upon Gleam's performance characteristics. One commenter wonders about the performance implications of using Gleam compared to pure Erlang. While acknowledging they haven't benchmarked it themselves, they speculate that the overhead might be negligible, especially given that Gleam compiles to Erlang.
Another thread in the comments focuses on the tooling and ecosystem surrounding Gleam. Users discuss the availability of a formatter and the integration with the Erlang ecosystem, noting that Gleam seamlessly leverages existing Erlang libraries. The relative nascency of the language and its ecosystem is acknowledged, with one user expressing anticipation for further tooling enhancements as the language matures.
The choice of immutability as a core principle in Gleam is also a subject of discussion. A commenter notes that immutability simplifies reasoning about code, especially in concurrent scenarios, echoing the benefits often associated with functional programming paradigms.
Finally, the topic of interoperability between Gleam and JavaScript is brought up. One commenter expresses their desire for improved JavaScript interop to facilitate wider adoption and use cases beyond the backend.
In summary, the comments on Hacker News generally reflect a positive sentiment toward Gleam, praising its type system, Erlang integration, and the benefits it derives from functional programming principles. While acknowledging its relative youth, commenters express optimism about the future development and broader adoption of the language.