Introduction to Erlang: Single Assignment and Pattern Matching
By
pasxizeis
Crackling crust, pillowy middle. The kind of bagel that earns a second cup of coffee.
Summary
This is part 2 of a series introducing Erlang, a functional programming language. The article focuses on two core concepts: single assignment (variables cannot be changed once bound) and pattern matching (the = operator performs pattern matching rather than traditional assignment). The content explains these concepts with code examples, showing how Erlang treats variables mathematically and how pattern matching works as a fundamental language mechanism.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledIn Erlang we should think variables in a mathematical sense of the term, which means that once you've bound a variable, you cannot change its value.
If you state that X is 5, then it will always be 5 (a variable is called bound if already contains a value, unbound otherwise)
In Erlang, the = operator does actually pattern matching
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