🔗 What TypeScript & Elixir can learn from each other

The Advent of Code is a fun annual programming competition with an Elf theme. It consists of 25 two-part problems of increasing difficulty, released every day in December leading up to Christmas.

Every December, I complete it in a new programming language. Every January, I intend to blog about the experience, but inevitably it slips, this year all the way back to November! (Sorry, I got completely consumed by a non-TypeScript side project.)

In 2024, I did the Advent of Code in Elixir, a functional programming language with immutable data types based on Erlang. This is analogous to how the JVM was built for Java, but also serves as a runtime for other languages like Kotlin and Scala.

I picked Elixir largely because a friend of mine worked in it. I'd also never written a substantial amount of code in a purely-functional language, and I was curious to see how it worked.

I suspect there's relatively little overlap between TypeScript and Elixir developers. They serve different roles and occupy different niches. But they do have a thing or two in common. In particular, Elixir is in the process of adding a gradual, optional typing system. Sound familiar?

1. A quick intro to Elixir

2. What can TypeScript learn from Elixir?

3. What can Elixir learn from TypeScript? 1. Prioritize Language Services 2. Adopting Types

4. General Impressions of Elixir

5. Thoughts on the 2024 Advent of Code

6. Conclusions