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Learn Erlang

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Why Erlang?

In an era where applications are expected to handle massive concurrency, maintain high availability, and operate seamlessly across distributed environments, Erlang stands out as a language built to meet these demands. Originally developed by Ericsson in the late 1980s for telecommunication systems, Erlang has proven its mettle in industries where reliability and uptime are non-negotiable. From powering the backend of WhatsApp, handling real-time bidding platforms, to managing critical systems in finance and healthcare, Erlang’s impact is both profound and far-reaching.

Erlang’s unique approach to concurrency—utilizing lightweight processes and message passing—enables developers to build systems that are not only scalable but also fault-tolerant. Its design philosophy emphasizes “let it crash,” encouraging the creation of resilient applications that can recover gracefully from unexpected failures. These attributes make Erlang an invaluable asset in today’s technology landscape, where systems must adapt and endure in the face of ever-increasing complexity and demand.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Why Erlang?
• What to Expect from This Book
• Who Should Read This Book?
• Learning Objectives
• Approach and Methodology
• Getting the Most Out of This Book
• Final Thoughts

Introduction to Erlang

• What is Erlang?
• History and Evolution of Erlang
• Key Features of Erlang
• Comparison with Other Programming Languages
• Use Cases: Telecom, Gaming, IoT, and More
• Setting Up the Development Environment
• Conclusion

Erlang Basics

• Writing Your First Erlang Program
• Erlang Shell and REPL Basics
• Syntax and Code Structure
• Variables and Immutability
• Basic Data Types
• Pattern Matching Essentials
• Guards and Conditionals
• Functions and Modules
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Functional Programming

• Introduction to Functional Programming Concepts
• Recursion and Its Applications
• Higher-Order Functions
• List Processing with List Comprehensions
• Pure Functions and Avoiding Side Effects
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Concurrency and Processes

• The Concurrency Model in Erlang
• Creating and Managing Processes
• Message Passing and Asynchronous Communication
• Process Lifecycle: Linking and Monitoring
• Error Handling in Concurrent Systems
• Fault Tolerance with Supervisors
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

OTP (Open Telecom Platform) Framework

• Overview of OTP
• Understanding Behaviors in OTP
• GenServer
• GenEvent
• GenFSM
• Supervisors and Supervision Trees
• OTP Applications and Releases
• Dynamic Application Upgrades
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Distributed Systems

• The BEAM Virtual Machine and Distributed Erlang
• Connecting and Communicating Between Nodes
• Global Process Registration
• Building Scalable Distributed Applications
• Fault Tolerance in Distributed Systems
• Tools for Managing Distributed Applications
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Data Handling

• Tuples, Lists, Maps, and Records
• ETS (Erlang Term Storage): Concepts and Usage
• Mnesia Database: Distributed Database Features
• Working with Files and Binary Data
• JSON and XML Parsing
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Networking and Web Development

• TCP and UDP Sockets in Erlang
• Building Network Servers and Clients
• HTTP Programming with Inets
• Introducing Cowboy Web Server
• Building RESTful APIs with Erlang
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Testing, Debugging, and Optimization

• Unit Testing with EUnit
• Common Test Framework
• Debugging Tools (dbg, observer, trace)
• Dialyzer: Static Analysis and Type Checking
• Profiling and Performance Optimization
• Conclusion
• Further Exercises

Advanced Topics

• Metaprogramming and Macros
• Native Implemented Functions (NIFs)
• Interfacing Erlang with Other Languages (C, Java, Python)
• Writing Custom Behaviors
• Soft Real-Time Systems in Erlang
• Further Exercises

Practical Applications

• Real-Time Chat Application with OTP
• Fault-Tolerant Game Server
• Building a Scalable IoT Backend
• Building a Distributed Queue System
• Final Conclusion

Erlang Ecosystem and Tools

• Rebar3: Build and Dependency Management
• Popular Erlang Libraries and Frameworks
• Code Formatting and Static Analysis Tools
• Setting Up CI/CD for Erlang Projects
• Conclusion

Future of Erlang

• Erlang vs. Elixir: Differences and Similarities
• Erlang in the BEAM Ecosystem
• Future Trends and Evolution
• Community and Adoption
• Conclusion

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