Stay ConnectedJoin our weekly discussion of the popular functional language built on top of the Erlang virtual machine. Each week, we discuss the world of Elxiir, Phoenix, OTP, and then BEAM.
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Copyright: © 2018 Intentional Excellence Productions, LLC
In this episode the panel talks to Thomas Kunnumpurath about how to build event-driven systems in Elixir and what tradeoffs different approaches have. The panel probes Thomas - who is a relative newcomer to Elixir but well versed in building event-based systems - on his experience with various event brokers and compares how using an event broker differs from using the BEAMs built-in distribution mechanisms. Additionally the panel provides some insight into the BEAM’s history and for which context the BEAM’s distribution mechanisms were optimized. At the end Thomas asks the panel for some suggestions on how he can continue his BEAM journey with more advanced learning material. Sponsors
LinksIn this episode the panel talks with Adolfo Neto who went out to learn Erlang during last year’s “Advent of Code”. He talks about his experience with the format, compares it against using a platform such as exercism.org - where mentors can give feedback - and how this shaped his perception of the onboarding experience of Erlang. The panel also discusses Adolfo’s involvement in the Erlang Ecosystem Foundation’s education working group and what they think Erlang - and Elixir - could do better to attract newcomers and make onboarding easier. Sponsors
LinksIn this episode the panel talks with Mika Kalathil about how to write Ecto code which makes it straight-forward to reuse and compose. In addition they discuss the advantages of having a streamlined and consistent error handling strategy and how all of that flows together in big, monolithic applications. Sponsors
LinksToday, the gang discusses the best code-quality tools that you NEED in your Elixir tool-belt, plus what to look out for in the Elixir world this year. It's gonna be a good one! Sponsors
LinksIn this episode the panel is picking up an often discussed topic in the Elixir community: umbrella projects and possible alternatives. They go over what an umbrella project actually is and their experiences with them. Based on this they go over the trade-offs you better know about, restrictions which might come back to bite you and how possible alternatives - like a monolithic app, “poncho” projects, or separate services - fare up against umbrella projects. In the end they also reflect on what has been said and give their opinions on how they’d built a complex greenfield project today. Sponsors
LinksIn this episode Adi, Allen, and Sascha talk with Rasheed Atanda about his library Elasticlunr which brings the power of full-text search to the BEAM without any external dependencies. They discuss where the library is standing right now, how indexing works in detail, and the benefits and drawbacks of having an external dependencies - such as Elasticsearch - compared to running it inside the same BEAM instance as your application. Sponsors
LinksIn this episode Allen and Sascha talk about OTP and what people usually mean, when they say that it’s more of an intermediate topic. They discuss how work gets fairly scheduled on the BEAM, the start and shutdown behavior of BEAM applications, what supervision trees actually are, and why you probably shouldn’t start a process unsupervised. Sponsors
LinksIn this episode, Allen, Sascha, and Adi discuss the type of apps where Elixir is a no-go, the weak spots you NEED to know to avoid headaches, and what alternatives the panelists recommend for very complex workflows. Sponsors
PicksExcited about Elixir but not sure how to get the most out of it? We’ve got you covered. In this episode, the Elixir Mix roundtable sits down with Alex Burlacu, a software developer whose specialities include Elixir, machine learning, and blowing his own mind. They talk about this ONE Elixir feature that surprised Alex, the do’s and don’ts of pattern matching and guards, and why Elixir is making Java shake in its boots. _“It was really nice seeing how my students were reacting to what’s possible with Elixir. One of my students’ implementations was 5x simpler than Java!”
Want to see Elixir/Phoenix out in the wild? In this episode, Allen sits down with Erik Guzmán, a developer whose proficiency in Elixir/Phoenix enabled him to created instant closed captions for both Twitch and Zoom audiences. The two discuss why Elixir is so seamless in its scaling capabilities, how Elixir’s ability to reveal errors sooner saved Erik’s behind once or twice, and the biggest lessons Erik learned from burn out. _“Because of how scalable and efficient things are, every client on Twitch is able to connect directly to my servers and get captions. I’ve been able to make a richer user experience.”
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