[Ixiaus]

Erlang's syntax has little to do with its functional paradigm - you should just bite the bullet and learn functional programming if syntax is what you're worried about.

If you are irritated by the idea/syntax implementation of pattern matching, folds/unfolds, recursion, immutability, function guards, partial function application, function currying, and higher-order functions then you won't enjoy any language that has as its basis, the functional paradigm.

Once you grok the functional idioms used in Erlang, the syntax becomes "not that bad". Granted Elixir is great, its meta-programming features are awesome, but it doesn't "get rid of that yucky functional programming stuff" (which I don't think is yucky at all, after Haskell I can't think in anything BUT the functional paradigm).

[buster]

I know, i know. But i have to admit that elixir looks "nicer" to me. Whatever that means...

[Ixiaus]

Well yes. Beauty is often in the eye of the beholder :) If you learn Erlang and understand it I think you would actually grow an appreciation for the why and how of its syntax. It's definitely an acquired taste.

I'm also one of those people that think homoiconicity and sexps are beautiful...