Setting up the Erlang development environment

Question

I am interested in looking at Erlang and want to follow the path of least resistance when getting up and running.

I am currently planning to install Erlang R12B-3 and Erlide ( Eclipse plugin). This solution is based only on Google. This will initially be on Windows XP, although I will most likely play the environment on Ubuntu soon.

Is there a much better choice? Even if it is tied to one platform.

Share your impressions.

Answer 1

I highly recommend the Erlang mode that comes with the standard Erlang distribution. I put together an Emacs “works out of the box” configuration, which includes:

• Syntax highlighting and context sensitive indentation
• Dynamic on-the-fly compilation
• Erlang Integrated Shell
• And further....

You can view my GitHub repository here:

http://github.com/kevsmith/hl-emacs

Answer 2

I only encoded the code a bit in Erlang, but I found that the most useful method was to simply write the code in a text editor and open a terminal ready to create my code as I needed (it was on Linux, but a similar idea would work on Windows, I'm sure).

Your question did not mention this, but if you are looking for a good book about Erlang, try this one , Reilly.

Answer 3

You can also try NetBeans , a very nice Erlang module is available there: ErlyBird

• Install Erlang: sudo aptitude install erlang
• Install the latest JDK: sudo aptitute install sun-java6-jdk
• Download and install the (smallest) NetBeans release (e.g. one PHP): www.netbeans.org/downloads
• download erlang erlybird module: sourceforge.net/projects/erlybird
• manually install modules through NetBeans

ErlyBird Features:

• syntax check
• syntax highlighting
• autofill
• beautiful formatter
• entry tags
• matching mapping
• Indentation
• code folding
• function navigator
• go to ad
• Project management
• Erlang Console Console

Answer 4

I use Erlang in several production systems in person and in the office. For client testing, documentation, and development, I use the MacBook Pro as an OS / platform and TextMate with Erlang as an editor.

For the development and deployment of assemblies, we use RHEL 4.x / 5.x in production, and for editing I use VIM. Personally, I have 4 machines (slices on slicehost.com) that debian runs on, using Erlang for several sites and jobs.

I try to go with the smallest "engineering environment", usually with the least dependency on apt or yum.

Answer 5

To add to the Emacs offerings, I also recommend that you take a look at the benefits of distel when starting Emacs erlang-mode.

Answer 6

You can also try the on-demand virtual server service, for example, from CohesiveFT

Select the components you want (for example, erlangrb12 + yaws + mysql + erlyweb), and he will build a vm image to download or install on ec2.

Rolling in your own place is simple enough if you follow the instructions in the book of pragmatic programmers. Erlang Programming

Answer 7

I saw the answers offering TextMate here, so I wanted to add another good Mac OSX tool:

ErlangXCode plugin for Xcode.

I use this since I started with Erlang and really love.

The link to the link in his blog is broken, here is the real download:

http://github.com/JonGretar/erlangxcode/tree/master

Answer 8

A simple note:
The Erlang “compilation” process described in the post (described for Ubuntu 6.10 btw) can be easily skipped using the apt command in any Debian-based distribution:

apt-get install erlang

Remember to install these packages if you see that they are suitable:
erlang-doc-html - Erlang HTML document pages
erlang-examples - Some sample applications
erlang-manpages - Erlang MAN pages
erlang-mode - editing mode for Emacs

Good luck

Answer 9

I like Justin's suggestion, but I will add: this solution is great for learning a language. If you don't rely on something like code completion, it makes you better learn the language. (If you are working with something with a huge API, such as Java or Cocoa, then you will need code completion, however!)

It is also an agnostic language, and in the case of an interpreted language, especially one that has an interactive interpreter, you will probably spend the same amount of time typing command line / interpreter commands. Even in a project with a large python core, I still work in the editor and in 4 or 5 terminal windows.

So, the trick is more about getting an editor that works for you. I am not going to offer it, as it is heading towards evangelism!

Answer 10

I just use Scite. Enter something and press f5 to see the results.

Answer 11

Since you will switch to Ubuntu anyway, I highly recommend using erlang-mode for emacs (which comes with the Erlang distribution). Officially, what all the major developers use and what many other developers use because of the many features that it offers you.

Installing the Erlang distribution should be easy :)

Answer 12

Just wrote a guide about this on the blog , this is a shortened version:

Part 1: Download what you need to download.

Download and set the Erlang runtime. Download and install TextPad.

Download the .syn file for Erlang and place it in the TextPad system folder. For me, this folder was C: \ Program Files \ TextPad 5 \ system. I'm not quite sure who made this syn file (the site is in a different language), but they did a pretty good job.

Part 2. Adjust syntax highlighting.

Open the text panel. Make sure the files are not open. Go to the "Configure" menu and select "Settings." In the settings window, click "Document Classes". There should be a list of currently recognized languages. Click the "Create" button (it is located directly below the list of languages) and enter "Erlang". Click "Apply."

Click the + button next to Document Classes. This should expand the list, and Erlang should now be on it. Click Erlang. You should see a list of file extensions associated with Erlang, click "Create" and enter "* .erl".

Now click the "+" button next to the "Erlang" on the left. This should expand the list of several more menus. Click Syntax. Click the drop-down menu and select erlang.syn. If erlang.syn does not exist, then the .syn file has not been placed properly.

Feel free to edit some other syntax options to customize the TextPad to your liking.

Part 3: Compiling from TextPad.

Note: as of 12/05/08 there are serious compilation issues in the text panel. The Erlang shell somehow ignores the new compilation when it is executed in a text field. This is only useful for checking errors, when you want to actually run the code, compile it in the Erlang shell.

In the settings menu, click "tools" on the left again.

Click the "Add" button and select "Program ...". Go to the erl5.6.5 \ erts-5.6.5 \ bin \ folder and select erlc.exe. Select and highlight a new entry in the list to rename it. Click "Apply."

Now click the "+" button next to "Tools on the left." Choose erlc or whatever you call the new tool (I called my "Compile Erlang"). The parameter field should read "$ File", and the initial folder field should read "$ FileDir".

Answer 13

I had a good success with Erlide.

Answer 14

If you use Vim, I recommend you Vimerl ( http://github.com/jimenezrick/vimerl ):

Features

• Syntax highlighting
• Code Indentation
• Code Addition
• End of code entry
• Syntax checking with quick fix support.
• Code Skeletons for OTP Behavior
• Uses configuration from Rebar
• Pathogen Compatibility (http://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen)

Answer 15

From what I have tried (and still have to do), a good addition to erlang dev. the environment will be a virtual machine running on ubuntu / yaws / erlang. Erlyweb (erlang / yaws structure) may well be a good check too.

Ciaran messages (this will be the first of his “series”) about his installation of erlang is good, as he details the steps to configure the server (and other things like xmpp with jabberlang).