Facilitating Module Recompilation in Elixir When External Files Change

The content explains how Elixir allows for execution of code at both compile time and runtime, advantageously using compile time for handling external files like icon images. The author provides examples of defining and fetching icons efficiently by using module attributes and how to handle changes to external files that may necessitate recompilation of the module. It highlights the limitations of Elixir’s default recompilation behavior and introduces the use of the `@external_resource` attribute and the `__mix_recompile__?/0` function from Elixir 1.12 to monitor both file content changes and directory structure changes for a more seamless recompilation experience. By effectively utilizing these techniques, developers can ensure their modules reflect the latest state of their external resources without cumbersome manual recompilation commands.