Demystifying Network Protocols Through Elixir

Willian Frantz's presentation offers a comprehensive exploration of commonly used network protocols such as HTTP(S), SMTP, POP3, FTP, and how Elixir can be employed to understand and leverage them for networking purposes. He explains the significance of networking in applications, particularly in areas such as web browsing, gaming, and backend development. Willian elucidates the difference between connection-oriented TCP and connectionless UDP protocols, detailing their operational principles and reliability. He demonstrates the implementation of TCP and UDP servers and clients using Elixir's GenTCP and GenUDP modules. The session further covers the application layer protocols such as FTP, HTTP, and SMTP that operate atop the transport layer, with Willian showcasing examples of creating basic FTP and HTTP servers in Elixir. Additionally, he introduces HTTP/3 and its underlying protocol, QUIC, which aims to enhance performance over traditional TCP-based HTTP by utilizing UDP's characteristics. Willian emphasizes the importance of understanding these protocols to improve problem-solving skills and to facilitate the development of new or specialized networking functionalities when existing libraries are insufficient.