Reflecting on 4 Years of Elixir in Production

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Reflecting on 4 Years of Elixir in Production
Ed Bond details his transition from C# and Java to Elixir within a startup environment, where he set the architecture for a new project to use Docker, GraphQL, and Kubernetes, stipulating any programming language could be used. The team opted for Elixir, a language that Bond had to learn from scratch. His personal project - a TV app business for churches - became the ground for testing and exercising Elixir's features, including converting a microservices app to Elixir and using an umbrella app for the structure. Bond emphasizes Elixir's suitability for the job, citing developer happiness and feedback loops as crucial factors in his programming experience. The range of tools discussed includes APMs like Appsignal, DevOps utilities such as Docker and ngrok, and Elixir's data access layer Ecto alongside Cafe for administrative interfaces. He describes how these tools supported a more rapid development cycle with fewer operational hurdles. Bond also delves into the opinions and debates within the Elixir community on the best patterns and practices, urging developers to be decisive yet flexible. He concludes with an account of offloading his project to a team of new Elixir developers who rapidly became proficient, attributing this success to the language's approachability and supportive ecosystem.

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