I Fell in Love with Erlang
6 months ago
- #programming
- #functional-programming
- #erlang
- The author's initial confusion with BASIC programming at age 8, particularly the concept of X = X + 1, led to a lifelong journey in programming.
- University introduced the author to C programming, which was initially incomprehensible but led to hands-on learning through trial and error, including frequent Linux system reinstalls.
- A pivotal moment came from a bridge partner's question about summing numbers without loops, leading the author to discover recursion through Prolog.
- The author's introduction to Erlang, a functional programming language from Sweden, revolutionized their understanding of distributed, fault-tolerant systems through its actor model and message-passing capabilities.
- Erlang's philosophy—embracing crashes, cheap processes, shared-nothing architecture, and message passing—deeply resonated with the author, leading them to prioritize programming over competitive bridge.
- The author plans to share insights on Erlang, Elixir, functional programming, and distributed systems in future blog posts, reflecting on their 30+ years of experience.