Dart vs Erlang: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Dart and Erlang are both programming languages that offer unique features and capabilities. In this Markdown formatted text, we will explore the key differences between Dart and Erlang in a concise manner.

1. Concurrency: Dart supports concurrency through the use of isolates, which are lightweight threads that communicate by message passing. On the other hand, Erlang excels in concurrency as it was designed from the ground up with the Actor model, allowing for easy creation and communication between processes, making it highly scalable and fault-tolerant.

2. Hot Reload/Hot Code Swapping: Dart offers a hot reload feature, allowing developers to instantly see code changes reflected in the running application without the need for a complete restart. This feature is particularly useful for rapid development and debugging. In contrast, Erlang has a built-in hot code swapping capability, which allows code changes to be applied to a running system without any downtime or disruption.

3. Language Paradigm: Dart is primarily an object-oriented language that also includes support for functional programming concepts. It uses classes and interfaces for encapsulation and inheritance. On the other hand, Erlang is a functional programming language with strong support for pattern matching, immutability, and recursion. It follows a declarative style without using traditional object-oriented concepts.

4. Virtual Machine: Dart runs on the Dart Virtual Machine (VM), which is designed to execute Dart code efficiently. It provides just-in-time (JIT) compilation for fast development cycles and ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation for optimal performance. On the other hand, Erlang code runs on the BEAM (Bogdan/Björn's Erlang Abstract Machine) virtual machine, specifically optimized to support the features of the Erlang programming language, such as process isolation and message passing.

5. Typed vs. Dynamically Typed: Dart is a statically typed language, which means that variable types are checked at compile-time, helping to catch errors early. It enforces type safety and allows for better tooling and refactoring support. Conversely, Erlang is dynamically typed, meaning that variable types are resolved at runtime, offering more flexibility but potentially increasing the chances of runtime errors.

6. Community and Ecosystem: Dart has been gaining popularity and has a growing developer community due to its use by Flutter, a popular framework for building cross-platform mobile apps. It has a wide range of libraries and tools available, with continuous updates and improvements. Erlang, on the other hand, has a smaller but highly dedicated community. It is widely used in the telecom industry, with a strong focus on fault tolerance and distribution.

In Summary, Dart and Erlang differ in their approach to concurrency, code reloading, language paradigm, virtual machine, typing system, and community size, providing developers with distinct choices depending on their specific requirements and preferences.