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Use thin-space (U+2009) as a numeric separator in regular English language #14635

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Jul 10, 2025
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Use thin-space (U+2009) as a numeric separator in regular English language #14635

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Use commas as a separator instead of _ in regular English language
eksperimental Jul 8, 2025
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Use thin space (U+2009) as a separator instead of _ and , in regular …
eksperimental Jul 10, 2025
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion lib/elixir/pages/anti-patterns/code-anti-patterns.md
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#### Problem

An `Atom` is an Elixir basic type whose value is its own name. Atoms are often useful to identify resources or express the state, or result, of an operation. Creating atoms dynamically is not an anti-pattern by itself. However, atoms are not garbage collected by the Erlang Virtual Machine, so values of this type live in memory during a software's entire execution lifetime. The Erlang VM limits the number of atoms that can exist in an application by default to *1_048_576*, which is more than enough to cover all atoms defined in a program, but attempts to serve as an early limit for applications which are "leaking atoms" through dynamic creation.
An `Atom` is an Elixir basic type whose value is its own name. Atoms are often useful to identify resources or express the state, or result, of an operation. Creating atoms dynamically is not an anti-pattern by itself. However, atoms are not garbage collected by the Erlang Virtual Machine, so values of this type live in memory during a software's entire execution lifetime. The Erlang VM limits the number of atoms that can exist in an application by default to *1,048,576*, which is more than enough to cover all atoms defined in a program, but attempts to serve as an early limit for applications which are "leaking atoms" through dynamic creation.
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The issue is that commas are locale specific. Not all languages and location use the same. For example, in Brazil, we would use dots. Perhaps we do `1_048_576` and have it show up as actual code, as in the other PR?

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But the documentation is written in English language. I would say along with the white-space separator is the most common in English speaking countries.

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Language and localization are two different things. Assuming people speak english is one thing but assuming they are all in a certain locale is another. But without going into this whole discussion, let's ask this instead:

  1. Do we use this convention anywhere else in the codebase?
  2. Why not use 1_048_576 is would be unambiguous for Elixir developers regaradless of their locale?

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@eksperimental eksperimental Jul 9, 2025 •
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We use it only here:

lib/elixir/lib/calendar/time.ex
784:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian
840:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian

lib/elixir/lib/calendar/date.ex
636:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian
670:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian

lib/elixir/lib/calendar/datetime.ex
1925:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian
1972:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian

lib/elixir/lib/calendar/naive_datetime.ex
1264:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian
1330:  Gregorian calendar that adds exactly 10,000 years to the current Gregorian

Using 1_048_576 works in this case because it is not an introductory material, but given the case of someone new to Elixir reading this, I don't think _ would mean much.

I'm OK with using 1_048_576, but I think it is something to think about.


For these reasons, creating atoms dynamically can be considered an anti-pattern when the developer has no control over how many atoms will be created during the software execution. This unpredictable scenario can expose the software to unexpected behavior caused by excessive memory usage, or even by reaching the maximum number of *atoms* possible.

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