Why did Facebook leave Erlang

Yeah, I like their games and bots. They’re a step ahead of Whatsapp. Last I saw it’s unclear what the Telegram stack is.

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Telegram is full C++

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Well, by far the most interesting part of Alexandrescu’s work was functors, and with C++11 lambdas offer a much easier way to get the same functionality and seem to be getting quite mainstream…

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Well and then one of FB former Erlang guys built this tiny app called WhatsApp :slight_smile:

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where did you get this info? I wondered myself few months ago, but it seemed to be unclear what they use

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From a dev that work with them.

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Diana, I feel the same way too.
It seems like Facebook’s team is happy with Erland though they have some problems and C++ is a good replacement as they say. Still, there was no statement that proves that they already switched to C++. Also, there’s a great number of articles like here or here. The first one doesn’t mention the switch and the second one, just like I said, shows only the intention, not the act. Can anyone confirm Facebook is not using Erlang anymore?

Can anyone confirm Facebook is not using Erlang anymore?

According to this year’s erlang conference, whatsapp is still using erlang. I think it can be considered part of facebook.

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Thanks! Yes, I think so too.

Well, it seems Facebook has an opening for an Erlang (as well as C/C++) software developer https://www.glassdoor.com/job-listing/software-developer-systems-infrastructure-facebook-JV_IC1147371_KO0,41_KE42,50.htm?jl=2738368919&ctt=1527811248726

to work with the WhatsApp team…

PS: WhatsApp is huge here in Brazil. I am part of several groups: a close family group, a barefoot runners group, and many others. Is it the same in other countries? In the past, Orkut was major social network here but not in the US or Europe.

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Facebook chat was actually developed by Adam D’Angelo (the founder of Quora). It was based on his Collage/University’s final year thesis.
After Adam left, Facebook didn’t have someone as fluent as him in Erlang, and also they wanted to add more features to the chat module, so rewriting it in a language known to maximum of the Facebook’s developers was a better choice.
The limitation wasn’t the language, but the knowledge of the language.

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Except, the problem with hiring “smart developers” is that there is a higher chance of hiring smart alecks instead. You need an exceptionally good hiring manager who:

  1. Is themselves an anti-Blub programmer with experience.
  2. Has the people skills to run a team of “smart developers”.

At Cognitect, those two requirements are probably fulfilled. But missing any of these two requirements is a recipe for disaster and you’d be better off with Blub.

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telegram is compromised …
please move to https://www.signal.org/

Signal has been compromised since its inception, as are every US companies by law.

These messages are off topic and should be deleted though…

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compromised how :roll_eyes:

How does this affect Telegram ???
It is not a Russian service, it available everywhere an is rapidly growing as a platform.

Case in point, i’m just developing a Bot for order placement for a Nigerian Top 100 company who has see the growth, security and wide acceptance of Telegram for such services…

The main problem with telegram is does not use end to end encryption, when signal does …
So I only trust signal now. No whats up, no telegram, no facebook messenger

This is the same issue if you could trust Huwai …,
https://malicious.life/episode/episode-79/
https://malicious.life/episode/episode-80/

By American laws which force all American companies as well as companies whose servers are located in the USA to allow access to the government and its agencies (thanks to the 9/11 mumbo jumbo). Even if the algorithm Signal uses for end to end encryption is perfect (hum!), this doesn’t prevent them from putting backdoors here and there (and again, they cannot say no if they are secretly asked to).

You shouldn’t put your trust in a single software that easily. Telegram has optional end to end encryption, and even though we can never be sure about hidden backdoors, at least they do not have to implement ones by law.

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I don’t think FB would invest in creating a statically typed Erlang if they were walking away from it. A lot has happened in between the time period described in the article and the current situation.

In addition, I don’t think FB walking away would shake my faith in the BEAM even a little bit. FB is an opaque structure with its own internal priorities. But this community is not an opaque structure, and has repeatedly demonstrated its resilience and commitment to purpose. If, after hanging around the BEAM for a bit, you don’t trust this community to deliver over the long haul, I don’t know who you could trust.

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