与其他语言一样，Erlang中的函数是所有程序的基本组成部分。

Functions in Erlang are the basic building blocks of any program, just as with any other language.

youdao

这样，我们已经满足了一本编程语言书籍必须以一个“hello world”程序开始的基本要求。

Hello world! Therefore, we have met the requirement a programming language book must start with a "hello world" program.

youdao

要求基本了解某种语言的程序设计知识。

Basic knowledge of programming in some language is required.

youdao

To do that, we need to describe: not only, what are the primitives, but how do we capture things legally in that language, and interact with the computer?

为了达到这个目的，我们需要描述：,包括程序基本的东西，以及怎么在这种语言中，做我们想做的事情并和计算机交互？

麻省理工公开课 - 计算机科学及编程导论课程节选