# How Erlang Is Powering WhatsApp and Telecoms in 2026

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-programming-languages-podcast-with-fexingo-python-rust-javascript-and-modern-coding-7872026/how-erlang-is-powering-whatsapp-and-telecoms-in-2026
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-programming-languages-podcast-with-fexingo-python-rust-javascript-and-modern-coding-7872026/how-erlang-is-powering-whatsapp-and-telecoms-in-2026.md
Podcast: [The Programming Languages Podcast with Fexingo: Python, Rust, JavaScript, and Modern Coding](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-programming-languages-podcast-with-fexingo-python-rust-javascript-and-modern-coding-7872026)
Published: 2026-06-26T09:52:59+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-programming-languages-podcast/episode-0074.mp3
Audio file: https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-programming-languages-podcast/episode-0074.mp3
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Duration seconds: 473

## Resource

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into Erlang, the 40-year-old language that still runs WhatsApp's messaging backbone and powers telecom switches handling billions of calls. They explore why Erlang's actor model, hot code swapping, and fault tolerance are uniquely suited for high-reliability systems, and how it compares to modern languages like Rust and Go. The hosts discuss real-world numbers: WhatsApp serves over 2 billion users with a tiny engineering team thanks to Erlang's concurrency. They also touch on the Elixir ecosystem and whether Erlang is making a quiet comeback in 2026. A must-listen for developers curious about battle-tested technologies behind the scenes. #Erlang #WhatsApp #Telecom #Concurrency #ActorModel #FaultTolerance #HotCodeSwapping #Elixir #BEAM #DistributedSystems #RealTimeMessaging #ProgrammingLanguages #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #SoftwareEngineering #SystemsProgramming #BackendDevelopment Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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## Transcript

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