Elm - Introduction

Elm is a functional programming language. It was Designed by Evan Czaplicki in 2012.

Elm is specifically used for designing front end of web applications.

Elm compiles to JavaScript and runs in the browser. It is fast, testable, maintainable, and comes with no Runtime exceptions.

Some practical applications of the Elm programming platform include −

• Games
• Graphics
• Single Page Applications

Why Elm

Elm eliminates most of the common problems faced by frontend developers. This includes −

No Runtime Exceptions

Elm is a statically typed language. All possible errors are validated and corrected at compile-time. This makes it possible to have no runtime exceptions.

Developer Friendly Error Messages

Unlike other programming languages, Elm's compiler is designed to provide very specific and developer-friendly error messages at compile time. The error messages also include hints such as links to recommended design documentations.

Easy to Test

Each Elm function can be tested in isolation of all others. This makes programs written in Elm easily testable.

Automatic Semantic Versioning

Elm enforces automatic semantic versioning of packages. This ensures that a patch change does not crash an already running application.

Reusable Code

Elm functions are inherently easy to reuse compared to functions in JavaScript, Python, or TypeScript.