Utilizing Erlang's Hot Code Updates in Elixir Development

This article explores the practical application of Erlang's hot code updates within Elixir projects, particularly focusing on the Nerves framework which is used for embedded systems. The author highlights the limitation of Elixir's standard release tools which do not support hot code updates out of the box. They share their experiences with using hot code updates for quick iterations while developing on physical devices, which allows for faster testing and debugging compared to traditional firmware updates. The author advocates for the development of better tooling to facilitate hot code updates in Elixir, drawing parallels to the careful process required for database migrations. Additionally, they mention the usefulness of tools like IEx for managing code in real-time during development.