Erlang’s concurrency strengths seem perfect for decentralized apps, but I haven’t come across many real-world examples yet. Has anyone here built something on blockchain using Erlang? Would be interesting to hear how it performs with oracles or transaction-heavy systems.
Well, the Aeternity blockchain is written in Erlang.
The Helium network also uses Erlang at least in some components (although they migrated to Solana in 2023)
QPQ AG will soon launch the Gajumaru Testnet, which will also be Erlang-based.
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We have a lot of “web3” development and have built back-end systems like indexers using Erlang. Biggest issue is the lack of libraries to communicate directly with the node. We have external code (written in go and/or python) that interacts directly with the EVM nodes but otherwise everything else is in Erlang. We’re also kicking off development of a system that requires a significant amount of web front end work so that will be done using Elixir Liveview. As you might expect, Erlang scales nicely and we’re able to distribute loads across multiple machines easily.
– Ben Scherrey
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Regarding the experience of using Erlang for blockchain development, I did give a talk about that at GOTO 2019:
That’s awesome info - appreciate it! I’ve always felt Erlang’s concurrency could make it a game-changer for projects like oracles or high-volume transactions. The Aeternity hackathon next month is focusing on using Elixir and Erlang for exactly those kinds of dApps.
Prize pool’s 23,000 AE tokens, so I’m thinking it might be a great chance to explore how Erlang handles scaling in real-world applications. Would love to know your take on its strengths for blockchain projects!
Where can I learn more about your hackathon? Curious to see Aeternity in action.
– Ben Scherrey
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It’s actually $23,000 - the above was a Typo
It’s interesting to see the use of Erlang in various blockchain projects like Aeternity and Helium. Erlang’s strengths in concurrency and fault tolerance make it a solid choice for blockchain technology, particularly for handling high transaction volumes and ensuring network stability. The upcoming Gajumaru Testnet from QPQ AG also highlights Erlang’s continued relevance in this space. As these projects evolve, it will be fascinating to see how their architectures and performance compare, especially with Helium’s migration to Solana. This shift might spark discussions on the pros and cons of different blockchain technologies and their underlying programming languages.