> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://isubasinghe.gitbook.io/isithas-wiki/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://isubasinghe.gitbook.io/isithas-wiki/software_engineering/languages/erlang.md).

# Erlang

## Basic idea

Dynamically typed, functional language built for soft-real-time, fault-tolerant distributed systems (Ericsson, 1986). Concurrency via lightweight isolated processes that communicate only by message passing — the actor model in production.

## Key facts

* Year / creator: 1986, Joe Armstrong et al. at Ericsson.
* Paradigm: functional + actor-model concurrency.
* Typing: dynamic, strong.
* VM: BEAM; preemptive scheduling of millions of processes.
* "Let it crash" + supervision trees for fault tolerance.