That cup of coffee in the logo suggests they are compiling to the Java JVM. If true, this makes me wonder why aren't they using Erlang itself as a target?
No, it is built right on top of Erlang for seamless integration, and of note is that it was created by Robert Virding, one of the original creators of Erlang along with Joe Armstrong.
LFE macros deliver true homoiconicity to Erlang.
It is a Lisp 2, and supports function and macro definitions at the REPL.
I prefer it to Elixir, because I prefer Lisp. Robert has also created a Lua 5.2 written in pure Erlang.
Evidently, Erlang's actors and BEAM VM were influenced by the JVM and Scala, so I guess doing a JVM Erjang was in the cards. [1]
> The BEAM VM was being worked on in 1992 a year after work on Java in 1991.
You're right. What I meant by "still earlier than Java" is "still earlier than
first public Java version", so there was no possibility to borrow anything.
BEAM was just one of a series of virtual machines that implement the Erlang language, so it's not really fair to compare it to Java (just as HotSpot was built a few years after Java).
The LFE compiler is referenced deeper in the documentation[1]. I also had to hunt to answer that question after the tutorial gave an example of compiling one of the example modules.
Erlang, LFE, and Elixir are all compiled languages, yes.
Having said that, they all support interactivity via a shell, including dynamically defining functions and tweaking the runtime. LFE does a better job at functions than Erlang; I'd wager Elixir too, but haven't looked closely at it.
I've only recently become a coffee drinker, but if someone gives me purple coffee, I'm not drinking it! We didn't even have purple coffee at Yahoo! I think that's tea.
LFE macros deliver true homoiconicity to Erlang. It is a Lisp 2, and supports function and macro definitions at the REPL.
I prefer it to Elixir, because I prefer Lisp. Robert has also created a Lua 5.2 written in pure Erlang.
Evidently, Erlang's actors and BEAM VM were influenced by the JVM and Scala, so I guess doing a JVM Erjang was in the cards. [1]
[1] https://www.infoq.com/news/2011/04/erlang-copied-jvm-and-sca...