Why do some values in iex use the '#Name<...>' syntax?

Learning Questions & Discussions What/How...
1 
iex> self()
#PID<0.105.0>

There are plenty of other examples. Various popular libraries like Ecto and Ash use that syntax too… yet I cannot seem to find any documentation about it. Is there a word for it? Is there a benefit to using (whatever that is) over a struct?

2

Take a look at Inspect — Elixir v1.18.4

3 Likes
3

Greetings :vulcan_salute:

Hmm, the #User<...> notation is a bit of a mouthful… Hash angle notation? :thinking: How about Hangle notation? :grin: