# Elixir vs Python

**URL:** <https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/elixir-vs-python/25619>\
**Category:** Discussions\
**Tags:** discussion, python, elixir\
**Created:** [September 24, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/elixir-vs-python/25619 "2019-09-24T11:32:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hauleth](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/hauleth/32/18942_2.png) [@hauleth](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/hauleth)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/elixir-vs-python/25619/6 "2019-09-24T12:09:39Z")

</div>

# Python

## Advantages

- more lightweight VM
- more broad distribution
- “easier deployment”
- broader area of usage (DevOps, Science Computations, scripting, etc.)
- multiple popular VM implementations (CPython, PyPy, Jython, IronPython, etc.)
- mutable types

## Disadvantages

- GIL in some implementations
- distributed computation more complicated
- mutable types
- monkey patching (not that it is not possible in Erlang)

# Erlang and Elixir

## Advantages

- very good distributed primitives
- immutable types
- simple syntax (in case of Erlang)
- powerful syntax (in case of Elixir)
- one VM can easily host different languages (Gleam, Elixir, Erlang, LFE, Joxa, Erlog, Luerl, etc.)
- error handling
- live updates

## Disadvantages

- immutability
- without HiPE the performance is often worse than Python
- less familiar syntax (in case of Erlang)
- macros can be confusing (in case of Elixir)
- single popular VM implementation

---

_[View the full topic](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/elixir-vs-python/25619)._