In the ever-evolving landscape of programming languages, the Gleam programming language has emerged as a refreshing and forward-looking addition — crafted with a laser-sharp focus on precision, performance, type safety, and an enjoyable developer experience. It is part of a new wave of functional programming languages designed to balance modern software development demands with clean syntax and fault-tolerant design.
Whether you’re a seasoned software engineer, a functional programming enthusiast, or a curious learner stepping into the vast world of code, this article will walk you through everything you need to know about Gleam in 2025. You’ll discover what the language is all about, its origin story, what sets it apart from others, its real-world applications, its growing community, and why it’s gaining attention in modern backend development circles.
Introduction to Gleam
The Gleam programming language is a strongly typed, statically compiled, functional programming language that runs on the battle-tested Erlang Virtual Machine (BEAM). This allows Gleam to inherit BEAM’s famously reliable concurrency and fault-tolerance model. Gleam was initially created by Louis Pilfold, who envisioned a language that would bring together the reliability of Erlang’s runtime and the safety of a modern type system.
Gleam is not just another experimental language — it is production-ready, concise, and pragmatic. Designed to be safe, fast, and friendly, the language emphasizes delivering highly maintainable, scalable, and bug-resistant codebases suitable for real-world use in distributed systems and cloud-native applications. Developers can write clean, readable code with confidence, knowing the compiler will help them catch potential issues before runtime.
Why Was Gleam Invented?
The birth of the Gleam programming language stemmed from a noticeable gap in the BEAM ecosystem:
- Erlang, while robust and time-tested, is built with a dated syntax and lacks static type-checking.
- Elixir, which introduced cleaner syntax and enhanced developer experience, still maintained dynamic typing.
Gleam set out to merge the best of both worlds — the fault tolerance and concurrency model of Erlang with the robustness and predictability of static typing. Its design goals included:
- Statically typed language for catching bugs at compile time
- Minimalist syntax that is easy to learn and reason about
- High performance through ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation
- Seamless interoperability with Erlang and Elixir code
- Tooling that makes the developer workflow smoother and more enjoyable
In short, Gleam was created to empower developers to build fault-tolerant and concurrent applications with fewer runtime surprises and improved developer confidence.
Key Features of Gleam
Here are the standout features of the Gleam programming language that are winning over developers in 2025:
1. Strong Static Typing
Gleam’s static type system is designed to be both expressive and intuitive. It catches a wide range of bugs during compilation, saving developers from hours of debugging time and making codebases significantly more reliable and easier to maintain.
2. Compiles to BEAM and JavaScript
Initially built to target the BEAM, Gleam has recently expanded its capabilities to compile to JavaScript, opening up possibilities for building full-stack applications or integrating with frontend ecosystems.
3. Seamless Interoperability
One of Gleam’s major advantages is its ability to work with existing Erlang and Elixir code. Developers can gradually adopt Gleam in existing BEAM-based projects, or combine Gleam modules with mature Erlang libraries without friction.
4. Algebraic Data Types and Pattern Matching
Inspired by languages like Haskell, OCaml, and Elm, Gleam features robust algebraic data types (ADTs), which promote expressive, declarative, and safe code. Pattern matching in Gleam enables clear control flow and logic handling.
5. Minimalist and Friendly Syntax
Simplicity is a core value of Gleam. The language avoids unnecessary complexity, making it a great fit for developers coming from other statically typed functional languages or even dynamic languages looking for a safer alternative.
6. Excellent Built-in Tooling
The Gleam programming language includes a modern compiler, formatter, package manager, and documentation generator — all integrated into the development process to streamline productivity.
Gleam in 2025: Current Status and Popularity
As we move through 2025, the Gleam community continues to grow steadily. Although still considered a niche player compared to languages like Rust, Go, or TypeScript, Gleam has earned the respect of functional programmers and backend developers alike.
- New projects such as Gleam Web, Gleam OTP abstractions, and GleamJS offers JavaScript compilation, enabling experimentation with frontend support (still in early development stages) have helped widen its application scope.
- The language is particularly popular among developers building real-time services, microservices, and distributed systems where concurrency and safety are paramount.
- Developers praise its clean compiler errors, fast compilation times, and easy onboarding.
While it may not yet be part of big tech enterprise stacks, Gleam is making its way into indie software projects, research labs, and cloud-native startups that prioritize correctness and developer happiness.
Comparison with Other Languages
Here’s a snapshot comparison of how Gleam measures up against other popular programming languages in 2025:
| Feature | Gleam | Elixir | Rust | TypeScript |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type System | Static | Dynamic | Static | Static (Gradual) |
| Target Runtime | BEAM, JS | BEAM | Native | JavaScript |
| Concurrency Model | Actor (BEAM) | Actor (BEAM) | Threaded/Async | Event Loop |
| Syntax Simplicity | High | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Interoperability | BEAM-friendly | BEAM-friendly | Limited | JS ecosystem |
| Learning Curve | Moderate | Moderate | Steep | Easy |
| Tooling Quality | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Mature |
As shown, Gleam carves its niche by delivering strong typing on the BEAM runtime, a combination not offered by any other language.
What Can You Build with Gleam?
The Gleam programming language is especially well-suited for building high-performance backends and systems that demand strong concurrency and fault tolerance. But its versatility is growing, particularly with JavaScript compilation.
Common Use Cases:
- Web APIs and RESTful services
- Concurrent microservices for cloud-native applications
- Real-time communication platforms
- IoT data processors and sensor backends
- Stream processors and data pipelines
- CLI (Command-line Interface) tools
- Full-stack applications using GleamJS for frontend development
- WebSocket servers and event-driven apps
In short, any application where concurrency, correctness, and maintainability are top priorities can benefit from Gleam.
Who Is Using Gleam in 2025?
Although it hasn’t gone viral yet, Gleam is seeing enthusiastic adoption in several sectors:
- Cloud-native startups seeking safer, leaner backend stacks
- Elixir and Erlang developers tired of runtime bugs and looking for static guarantees
- Functional programming educators and researchers promoting cleaner code
- Hackers and hobbyists building projects with reliability in mind
- Early adopters creating new libraries, tools, and frameworks to expand the ecosystem
Communities on GitHub, Discord, and Reddit are buzzing with tutorials, open-source contributions, and helpful discussions. Some developers have even started experimenting with hybrid applications using Gleam and TypeScript for robust full-stack development.
Getting Started with Gleam
If you’re excited to try Gleam, it’s easy to get started. Here’s a quick Hello World example:
import gleam/io
pub fn main() {
io.println("Hello from Gleam!")
}
To install Gleam:
curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh # If Rust is not installed
cargo install gleam
Create and run a project:
gleam new my_project
cd my_project
gleam run
Gleam also provides excellent documentation and tutorials for beginners.
Summary
The Gleam programming language is one of the most thoughtfully designed additions to the functional programming landscape. It brings together safety, performance, and developer ergonomics — all on top of one of the most battle-tested runtimes in existence: BEAM.
While it’s not the most hyped language of 2025, its steady growth, passionate community, and powerful features make it a smart choice for backend developers seeking long-term maintainability.
If you’re curious about typed functional programming or looking to build fault-tolerant systems that scale — Gleam is absolutely a language worth learning and using.