Erlang Web Development Frameworks
Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 16:11 by Jón Grétar Borgþórsson Web Frameworks.
I'm going to mention the two of the most interesting web frameworks out there. They choose a very different path and I would call both of them production ready. As they are both projects in active development you might have a problem with a new release breaking a few things.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is the new kid on the scene but has quickly become my favorite framework. Unlike most frameworks it's event driven. I enjoy it even more than Rails at the moment. It's dead simple to get started in and very powerful. It's in very active development and new and cool features are added almost weekly. The last new feature added was the simplest but one of the most powerful Comet implementation out there.
ONe of it's drawbacks is that there is no routing system in it. Paths are defined by the module names. So web_index.erl becomes /web/index or /web and web_blog_comment.erl becomes /web/blog/comment. Some might find this a bit limiting.
There are many cool features planned and one of the most interesting is implementing Erlangs power to be a distributed web frameworks. Thus solving many of the problems of scalability that many other web frameworks have
Pros:
- Dead simple.
- Nice bindings system.
- Kick ass Comet support.
- Interesting future ideas.
Cons:
- No routing at the moment.
- A little too simple on the template side.
- Really young so no real documentation yet.
Erlang Web
I have not much experience with Erlang Web but many seem to have started using it. It's and MVC framework built on OTP principles and uses many standard Erlang practices. It's template system on first view reminds me a bit of good old WebObjects. Currently it supports INETS and Yaws but not MochiWeb at the moment.
Pros:
- Very Flexible.
- Powerful template language.
- OTP Principles.
Cons:
- Could be simpler.
- Needs way better documentation.
Template Languages
Sometimes you may just want something simpler. Just a little template engine on a custom built web server to show some dynamic data. Or for use in your own web framework. Here are 2 notable template engines.
HERML
HERML is an erlang implementation of the HAML markup language. It's quick and simple but remember that this skips HTML altogether so it might not be for everyone.
ErlyDTL
ErlyDTL is an erlang implementation of the Django Template Language. I personally found DTL to be Django's most anoying feature but as many people like it it's best to mention it.
Reader Comments (12)
BeepBeep is a framework that was released about a week ago:
http://weblog.miceda.org/2008/12/12/beepbeep-a-rails-like-framework-for-mochiweb/
http://github.com/davebryson/beepbeep/tree/master/README.textile
It looks very promising. It's based on mochiweb & erlydtl. It has a nice routing system that you're looking for. I'd like to see erlycomet merged into BeepBeep
Ahh.. Thanks. forgot about that one. I'll have to check it out when I have time.
I'm currently using Nitrogen for a project as it's really simple and nice to embed it into a bigger project. So if what you want to do is to make a web interface to your Erlang application then Nitrogen is the clear winner.
On the framework side, don't forget the first of the big ones, Erlyweb! It has some really interesting components in it, even though its development pace seems to have slowed. On the template side, remember to consider SGTE as well.
As ErlyWeb has not been updated for over a year and a half according to it's website I just thought it was abandoned. Is anyone using it?
I have not heard of SGTE. Have to check it out later.
I don't use earlyweb directly but do actively use ErlTL. It's a great alternative to ErlyDTL.
ErlyWeb is being updated, check out its git repo: http://github.com/yariv/erlyweb/tree/master, http://github.com/yariv/erlyweb/commits/master/
Now that it's being used at vimagi.com and twoorl.com, I guess its ebtered the plateau stage, when it's hard to justify active changes
Just a note to say that the Erlang Web has built in distribution and scalability. Look at the architecture described in the Erlang User Conference presentation @ http://www.erlang-web.org
Hi!
As for the Erlang Web, we are providing with two examples on the about page, the first set of code is associated with the diagram illustrated, the other one is a more complex example. --Erlang Web about page
On the tutorial page, there is a step by step tutorial available, currently there are two steps available and we are working on more steps.
-- Erlang Web tutorial page
For the documentation, we are thinking of use the edoc at some point.
Mochiweb is also in the plan to be supported by Erlang Web.
Welcome to join our mailing list if you have any query regarding to the Erlang Web.
Thanks
the Erlang Web Team at ETC
Why is it (having suffered too many java web frameworks) that the very *mention* of "MVC" gives me ugly chills. Nitrogen gets my vote at the moment.
I just like to use Erlang web.But it should need update.I have just one request.Development is a great professional but some people are disturbing it because they are not professional.
both the web frameworks are really very popular to use in these days, but it's not easy to accomplish for new developer it has to need much skills professional. .you try the best . .
keep doing the best in it & you will sure succeed in the field web 2.0 development company path . .