Erlang is a general-purpose, concurrent, functional programming language designed by Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding and Mike Williams at Ericsson in 1986 for building fault-tolerant, distributed telecommunications systems. It was released as free and open-source software in December 1998. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
First Released ParadigmMulti-paradigm: concurrent, functional. 2 SignificanceJoe Armstrong summarized the design goal as software that is write once, run forever. Erlang's fault-tolerant, distributed model later powered systems including WhatsApp, well beyond its original telecommunications-switch use. 2 Classification
Typing Discipline Typing Discipline FAQs
What kinds of applications is Erlang particularly suited for?
The Erlang FAQ at erlang.org says: "Distributed, reliable, soft real-time concurrent systems. Telecommunication systems, e.g. controlling a switch or converting protocols. Servers for Internet applications, e.g. a mail transfer agent, an IMAP-4 server, an HTTP server or a WAP Stack."
Connections
Associated With
Gleam compiles to and runs on the BEAM, Erlang's runtime.
Base Language For
Direction correction: Elixir compiles to and runs on the Erlang VM (BEAM) and reuses Erlang libraries, not the reverse.
Follows Typing Discipline
In Field
Source Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
Influenced
Pony's actor-model concurrency draws on Erlang's actor model.
Influenced By
Source Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
Invented By
Source Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
Licensed Under
Open Questions
Source Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
In the Other Atlases
Developed By
Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.
Originated In
Also in Business Atlas: where this subject originated.
Source Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)tier 2
Sources
1. Wikidata: Erlang
- Wikidata Q334879, resolved via en.wikipedia pageprops (wave rule R-L)
- Wikidata Q334879 P275 (license)
- Wikidata Q334879 P7078 (typing discipline)
View the Source2. Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
Wikimedia FoundationProcesses
Joe Armstrong remarked in an interview with Rackspace in 2013: "If Java is 'write once, run anywhere', then Erlang is 'write once, run forever'."
Infobox: paradigms
Multi-paradigm: concurrent, functional
- Invented By: Joe Armstrong
- In Field: Distributed Computing
Influenced By: Prolog, History section
The initial version of Erlang was implemented in Prolog.
View the Source Programming Language Database (PLDB): Erlang - PLDB
Programming Language Database (PLDB)In Group: Parallel and Distributed Programming Languages, Page textQuote, In Group: Parallel and Distributed Programming Languages, Page text
Erlang ( ER-lang) is a general-purpose, concurrent, functional programming language
Open Questions (1 open question)
Is Erlang named for mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang or as a syllabic abbreviation of Ericsson Language?
Sources describe the name as presumed by telephony-switch engineers to honor Danish mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang, and also as a syllabic abbreviation of Ericsson Language, the company where the language was created; no single authoritative account settles which motivation, if not both, actually drove the choice.
What would resolve this A primary statement from Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding or Mike Williams, or an Ericsson internal record from the 1980s, definitively naming the intended derivation of the name.
Computing historyWikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
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