title: Is Elixir's module an atom?
body: <p>I'm trying to get to know what modules are in Elixir. Because in Erlang they're just atoms, but in Elixir atoms start with <code>:</code> character.
  So I've checked these expressions in iex:</p>
  
  <pre><code>iex(16)&gt; is_atom(List) 
  true
  iex(17)&gt; is_atom(:List)
  true
  iex(18)&gt; List == :List
  false
  iex(19)&gt; a = List
  List
  iex(20)&gt; b = :List
  :List
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So it's pretty clear that both <code>List</code> and <code>:List</code> are atoms. However, how does it work on Erlang interop layer? Because Erlang's <code>ok</code> is equal to Elixir's <code>:ok</code>.<br>
  So which one of these two (<code>List</code> and <code>:List</code>) is equal to <code>'List'</code> in Erlang?</p>