$ erl
Erlang (BEAM) emulator version 5.6.2 [async-threads:0] [kernel-poll:false]

Eshell V5.6.2 (abort with ^G)
1> Print_val = fun(X) -> io:format(.X = ~p~n., [X]), X*2 end.
* 1: syntax error before: X

Not exactly, though visually there may be similarity when Atom in Erlang is represented with single quotes (‘) and this could bring confusion to Python programmer as it looks like string in Python, ie:
‘hello world’ in Erlang –> atom
‘hello world’ in Python –> string

I should note though that i meet more often Atoms represented in form of
“constant with name” like in:
1> T = {erlang, 10, “hello”}.
{erlang,10,”hello”}
2> {Atom, 10, “hello”} = {erlang, 10, “hello”}.
{erlang,10,”hello”}
3> Atom.
erlang

Atom is a separate data type in Erlang, but not in Python. In Python’s Reference manual Atoms are defined as “the most basic elements of expressions”, which is a different beast, obviously, than in Erlang.

In next tutorials i’ll give some examples which i hope will shed more light on place and behavior of atoms in Erlang.