Um... yea it does. Elm makes functional composition very easy which which means it's very easy to compose "components" (which are just functions anyway).
> - Only pure functions in Elm, so doing API calls and generating random numbers are unnecessary hard.
I would say that Elm makes doing API calls and generating random #s appropriately hard. Elm strives to corral side effects into one part of the Elm architecture: "commands". By doing this, you're keeping all code that contains side effects at the fringes of the walled garden you're growing.
I think this explicitness/discipline is needed in more codebases.
> - It's complicated to implement routing and to build a Single Page Application.
I agree, it's no Ember, which comes with all the bells and whistles of a full router system, including page transitions, transition errors, data fetching, etc. Richard Feldman has an elm SPA example on github that shows how to create routes, pages, etc. The official Elm Guide also has sections on routing, etc.
> So in the end, Elm is an interesting beast, but I think it's too academical and not really practical for serious projects.
Too "academical"? Tell it to these devs: https://blogg.bekk.no/using-elm-at-vy-e028b11179eb.