Erlang

Erlang, a concurrent programming language with a strong emphasis on fault-tolerance and high-availability, forms the foundation upon which the Elixir ecosystem is built. Its underlying runtime, language constructs, and standard libraries empower developers to build scalable applications that excel in environments where uptime and data transport are critical, such as the fintech industry. Renowned for enabling cost savings—significantly reducing server expenses for companies like Pinterest and Bleacher Report—Erlang’s functionalities have been seamlessly integrated into Elixir, providing resilience, real-time processing, and reduced latency for enhanced user experiences.

Experts from the Erlang OTP team at Ericsson continue to expand and refine the language, diving into technical details that ensure Erlang's capabilities are at the cutting edge. Innovations such as Native Implemented Functions (NIFs) and custom libraries like EXGBoost enrich the Elixir landscape, offering powerful extensions for complex, real-world applications. The applicability of Erlang's philosophy, especially the 'let it crash' approach, manifests tangibly in both the creation of the language server solutions for Elixir and in the infrastructure powering globally distributed systems. Elixir’s Phoenix framework, a project thriving on the maturity and stability of Erlang, proves itself time and again as an adaptable platform for web applications, deploying features such as LiveView for real-time interactivity and tailored authentication methods.

Monitoring and diagnostics tools borne from the BEAM runtime offer observability into running systems, making debugging a more streamline process. Tools like Dialyzer promote static code analysis to minimize the introduction of type errors, and the Elixir core team continues to enhance the language with updates for improved performance, like compilation and boot time optimizations. With Erlang infrastructure in use at major tech conferences and implemented in projects from chat applications to health care solutions, its influence reverberates through industries. Further, the exploration of language interop, the use of TDD, the importance of system restart strategies, and the adoption of Elixir in replacing legacy systems all speak to the versatility of Erlang and the BEAM VM. Engagement from key figures such as José Valim and Saša Jurić, alongside contributions from many other developers, ensures the sustained growth and exploration of Erlang's potential in modern software development.

Understanding Phoenix LiveView as an Elixir Process

Jason Stiebs from Fly.io explains how Elixir Processes work in Phoenix LiveViews. He emphasizes the importance of understanding that a LiveView is a process and discusses the benefits and implications of using processes in building scalable applications.

Jun 14, 2023

Integrating Dialyzer into Existing Elixir Projects Smoothly

This blog post by Noah Betzen discusses how to successfully implement Dialyzer, a static code analysis tool, in an existing Elixir project without causing inconvenience to the team. The post includes tips on ignoring existing errors, preventing new errors, fixing errors, and integrating Dialyzer into the CI pipeline to catch type errors before merging code.

Jun 12, 2023

Building an Elixir-based NTP Server

Andrei created a fake NTP server as an exercise in reverse engineering the NTP protocol using Elixir. He explored the NTP request and response packets and built a UDP server in Elixir to handle and respond to NTP packets. Overall, he had fun implementing his own custom sigil and learned more about tcpdump and GenServers in the process.

Jul 15, 2023

Overview of Elixir's HTTP Clients

Andrea Leopardi provides an overview of various HTTP clients available in Elixir, including Mint, Finch, Req, and httpc. He discusses the features and use cases of each client, offering recommendations based on different scenarios.

Jul 24, 2023

Explanation of syntax for calling anonymous functions in Elixir

In this article by José Valim, he explains why Elixir uses a dot when calling anonymous functions. The main reason for this choice is because functions in Elixir have to be identified by name and arity, and using the dot helps avoid naming conflicts and provides clarity in the code.

Aug 14, 2023