> I fail to see why this shouldn't be the server language of choice. Other than tougher recruiting.
Actually, I hold a position that in some sense it makes recruiting easier.
It's very hard to find idiots that can be taught to write in Erlang (or
Haskell, OCaml, or Clojure), so SNR should be very good.
You don't really know if someone can be taught the language or not until after they're hired, though, so it doesn't really help with the SNR in interviews.
Checking if the candidate can learn the language helps if the hiring process
involves a small assignment. It can be much smaller than typically (because
learning new language is difficult enough).
There is also a case when candidate already knows a functional language, just
not Erlang (or whatever is required). Then one might assume the candidate can
learn one more functional language.
I work in an Erlang shop, and I see candidates that are really interested in learning a functional language. These candidates tend to be of a higher caliber. It's not that we suggest learning Erlang in other words... the candidates do, and that's a good signal.
Actually, I hold a position that in some sense it makes recruiting easier. It's very hard to find idiots that can be taught to write in Erlang (or Haskell, OCaml, or Clojure), so SNR should be very good.