Elixir for a newbie

[cmkarlsson]

Isn’t that the point of the code formatter though? To get rid of all the unnecessary bike shedding?

If it doesn’t take sides then the flamewar will keep raging.

If it just consistently applied some rules like the go formatter then you just have to accept it. Obviously I am hoping it would do things my preferred way but even if it wasn’t to my liking it would be consistently not to my liking

[cmkarlsson]

Yes, I think elixir is a good language to get started in. The documentation and tooling is really good which makes it easy to get started with.

I am currently converting some legacy web apps written in python over the phoenix and it is mature enough to handle it and you get heaps of benefits for larger applications.

It is so much easier to keep your application modular when using elixir (well, OTP applications on the beam really) then the traditional frameworks. I don’t think there is any language out there that can beat this and miss it whenever I am not writing erlang/elixir.

[OvermindDL1]

@tmbb

Wat? @OvermindDL1, is this true?

Everything is a function.
You are a function.
An Actor is a function.
Numbers are functions.
Everything is functions!

/me coughs ^.^

@tmbb

Lol, inside a macro, 1 can perfectly be a function, a symbol, a variable, a dictionary, a process, and some other things. Macros can transform arbitrary And Elixir into arbitrary Elixir (as long as it’s valid syntax, a sometimes annoying restriction). But in practice it’s usually just a number xD

Yep yep. ^.^

‘1’ itself in the ast though is just a number, not even decorated with location metadata or anything of the sort, just a useless little number. ^.^;

@Deithrian

The correct answer is “In what language is the code written?”, and since I’m using an advanced version of Haskell where even spaces are not required (it’s called Hackskell btw, cos 1337), the correct answer is D.

Lol, well this is an Elixir thread in an Elixir forum, so…

@cmkarlsson

Isn’t that the point of the code formatter though? To get rid of all the unnecessary bike shedding?

Except that it utterly and horribly breaks a lot of formatted code where the formatting is important for the humans reading it, like blocks of numbers arranged specifically as one big example that broke for me. ^.^;

@cmkarlsson

If it just consistently applied some rules like the go formatter then you just have to accept it.

Eh, it doesn’t though, it will actually format some code different based on how it was originally formatted (and sometimes irreversibly too).

[Deithrian]

@OvermindDL1

Lol, well this is an Elixir thread in an Elixir forum, so…

Just having harmless fun with Haskell and their lemonade.

The most important thing for Elixir is that a person who has never programmed, like myself, is able to learn and use it.
The books are great, community is great, syntax is great, and it’s built on the shoulders of 30 years of experience in Erlang.
There’s nothing better, numbers are numbers.

[cmkarlsson]

@OvermindDL1

Except that it utterly and horribly breaks a lot of formatted code where the formatting is important for the humans reading it, like blocks of numbers arranged specifically as one big example that broke for me. ^.^;

I saw the thread, but from what I understand it is a work in progress? And things will no doubt improve.

I am more interested in the overall goal of the formatter. I thought it was inspired by gofmt and that is where it wants to eventually end up. Meaning (which I hope) elixir syntax will naturally converge into less ambiguous syntax as the formatter will always produce a nice consistent result. (Except for your code @OvermindDL1 but I bet you are always the exception to the rule )

If that isn’t the goal of the formatter then I don’t see how it would differ from any other project out there doing the same thing.

[CptnKirk]

@Deithrian

There’s nothing better, numbers are numbers.

Good thing he didn’t ask about Strings though…

[kelvinst]

@CptnKirk

Good thing he didn’t ask about Strings though…

Hahaha, well, strings are binaries

[CptnKirk]

Unless they’re a list of numbers.

[kelvinst]

@CptnKirk

Unless they’re a list of numbers.

That’s not a string. It’s a charlist… It may be called a string on erlang, but not in elixir.

[CptnKirk]

We created a new Python developer 15 posts ago, so I’m not sure the semantics matter.

[asqrd]

Definitely something to agree on with a team and put in coding guidelines, perhaps something like PEP8 for elixir would be useful though.

[kelvinst]

Well @Mikeroz, sorry for ruining the initial intention of this topic with some syntax discussions. But feel free to ask us whatever you want, we are here to help!

[CptnKirk]

@kelvinst

Well @Mikeroz, sorry for ruining the initial intention of this topic with some syntax discussions. But feel free to ask us whatever you want, we are here to help!

And I think this and the rest of the thread pretty much sums up the Elixir community. We’re nerds that like to talk, but we’re here for you. Elixir is a fine language for someone just starting out. In fact, I’d say it’s a fantastic language for someone starting out that has a long-term interest in server-side web development. It also comes with a friendly community.

If you’re just starting out and need an introduction to programming itself, pick Python. You’ll learn the ropes and be able to do some interesting things quickly. But you’ll eventually put it down in favor of other languages for server-side web development.

[Mikeroz]

Thanks for ALL answers! Looking at The amount of it you truly are a different kind of community;)

That being said - I am sold! Will be posting more questions soon;)

[gasparch]

Checkout my blog - https://medium.com/learn-elixir , especially this series of posts about learning basics - https://medium.com/learn-elixir/comfortable-learning-curve-for-learning-elixir-part-1-67231042fec