Hacker News Reader

It depends a lot on the way you write JavaScript. If you work with React, like FP and make everything you can immutable, you’ll probably find it easy.

If you write JavaScript like it’s Java and really lean into OO, then Elixir will be more alien and force you to learn some new patterns.

View on HN

I don't really see why this is the case. Both Elixir and Gleam are functional languages with immutable data.

The only major difference between them is the typing and the syntax I'd say.

Being typed would make it harder, not easier for a JS dev. Syntax is a very surface-level difference and is basically a rounding error in cases like this after the very initial stages.

If I were to try to make the argument for you, I'd point to some of Elixir's more powerful abstractions like protocols and macros as a reason Elixir might be harder for JS devs. In reality, though, I found it very straightforward to learn as a JS dev, and that was back in 2016 when the documentation was much worse.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com