Erlang-RED
Dev tools
visual programming environment
SHOW HN2025
243points
102comments
#248of 3,837 in 2025
Top 7%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
4 positive, 20 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 7 critical, out of 32 comments about the project. Thread score -0.08.
Idea: 1 for, 4 againstDocs: 1 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea for Erlang concurrency and flow-based programming
From 2 comments
> wish that it was not multi-processing and Erlang Hehe - honestly I chose Erlang because I love the syntax and secondly because it is so niche. Flow based programming is niche,…
Towaway69 on HNI was just thinking of making something like this last night but using FLENG instead of Erlang ;) I'm really glad more people are taking inspiration from Node-RED, I will…
thinkyfish on HN
Objections
Visual flow code is hard to version control and diff
From 2 comments
I know of Py-Red[1] which is an attempt to do the same but with Python. Using Node-RED as a frontend and something else as a backend, no I haven't heard of anything similar. Main…
Towaway69 on HN> Could you sort the JSON before saving so the output is more stable and diff-able? Jsons are definitely diff-able but it's the difference between a change that changes the logic…
Towaway69 on HN
Documentation lacks explanation of flow-based programming and terms
From 2 comments
The thing which makes me be annoyed with Yours and the Node-RED site, is that you people do not define terms, before using them. Like "flow". What is this? A program? Please…
nilslindemann on HNNice work! A couple of comments 1. You don't explain what flow based programming is or when it should be used. It looks like it represents some type of data pipeline, but I'm not…
paddy_m on HN
Examples and screenshots are buried in the README
From 3 comments
This is neat - maybe move the example section higher up; it looks great and gives a much better idea of what the system looks like visually, which to me is key in node-based envs.
tzarko on HNI would move your sample images to the top of the README. Don't bury the lede.
aantix on HNfor a visual environment, I was expecting more images to show me what this tool is
fnord77 on HN
Requests
Move examples and screenshots higher in the README
From 3 comments
This is neat - maybe move the example section higher up; it looks great and gives a much better idea of what the system looks like visually, which to me is key in node-based envs.
tzarko on HNI would move your sample images to the top of the README. Don't bury the lede.
aantix on HNCongratulations for the launch! Also I never heard of that license before: "LICENSE - DON'T DO EVIL" https://github.com/gorenje/erlang-red?tab=License-1-ov-file#readme Also I…
js4ever on HN
Add a glossary and explain flow-based programming
From 2 comments
The thing which makes me be annoyed with Yours and the Node-RED site, is that you people do not define terms, before using them. Like "flow". What is this? A program? Please…
nilslindemann on HNNice work! A couple of comments 1. You don't explain what flow based programming is or when it should be used. It looks like it represents some type of data pipeline, but I'm not…
paddy_m on HN
Provide a browser-based JS implementation for demos
From 1 comment
Nice work! A couple of comments 1. You don't explain what flow based programming is or when it should be used. It looks like it represents some type of data pipeline, but I'm not…
paddy_m on HN
Questions
Is there a code-based DSL for event-driven flow problems?
From 1 comment
I saw Node-RED recently, and now this. While I think these are cool (and I would rather Erlang than NodeJS), is there some code based system for these kinds of things? I know I…
Arch-TK on HN
Is there a visual flow tool based on Rust?
From 1 comment
> Node-RED is a amazing[*] tool for creating flows that describe concurrent processing, it is just a shame the NodeJS is single threaded. So why not use something that is…
oersted on HN
Alternatives named
Py-Red
From 1 comment
I know of Py-Red[1] which is an attempt to do the same but with Python. Using Node-RED as a frontend and something else as a backend, no I haven't heard of anything similar. Main…
Towaway69 on HN
n8n
From 1 comment
I know of Py-Red[1] which is an attempt to do the same but with Python. Using Node-RED as a frontend and something else as a backend, no I haven't heard of anything similar. Main…
Towaway69 on HN
AtomVM
From 1 comment
Wow! That does look interesting: > With AtomVM, you can write your IoT applications in a functional programming language, using a modern actor-based concurrency model, making…
Towaway69 on HN