Can we trust the programming languages we use when it comes to building websites? Is it time for a paradigm shift in web development and the introduction of new programming languages? For those that choose the second option, Ruby, PHP, and Python may step aside to make room for Elixir programming. There are no miraculous potions here, but high-quality code can cure web applications’ sluggish performance. Is it any surprise that other programming languages have been questioned if Elixir is as fascinating as it sounds? There will be a real eye-opener on the Elixir framework to see whether it is here to stay.
Beyond Elixir
In 2012, the Elixir programming language made its debut in the software development environment. Jose Valim, a Brazilian developer, came up with the idea because he was fed up with Ruby’s constraints. When dealing with huge loads, Ruby failed terribly, despite its skill with generators and templates for laying out a project’s framework. As a result, Erlang was chosen by Valim as his coding language of choice. Because of this, Elixir was constructed on top of the Erlang Virtual Machine (BEAM) bytecode.
Even though Elixir is a relatively new programming language, this has substantially impacted its development. Now, unlike Ruby, Elixir programming was able to handle massive surges with billions of people coming online simultaneously, unlike Ruby. The Elixir Core team, a group of six developers, manages the source code. In particular, Aleksei Magusev, Fernando Tapia Rico, James Fish, Jose Valim, and Andrea Leopardi are the individuals in question. The six members of the team agree to modify the codebase. Again, the vibrant Elixir community helps the language’s steady development.
The Core team always welcomes new suggestions from the community, which must first be accepted for inclusion on an Elixir mailing list. Elixir is a popular backend option, but have you ever heard that Elixir can also be used to create front-end applications using the Phoenix framework? For Ruby, Rails is the equivalent. Now, as an Elixir full-stack solution, you can’t dispute that it will be there for a long time.
Elixir Functional Programming has six striking features
In contrast to Ruby’s object-oriented approach, Elixir excels in functional programming. What precisely does this mean? Functional web development using Elixir reduces your code’s size, speed, and complexity. When a method is called in a functional programming paradigm, the most important aspect is the ability to prevent side effects. First-class functions, pattern matching, and immutable data ensure that your program will perform as planned. We’re not stopping there; let’s peek at the other noteworthy elements of Elixir’s engine!
Incorruptible Data
In order to be functional, Elixir relies heavily on the immutability of its data. Once data has been declared, it cannot be changed or altered. Because of this quirk, variables cannot be changed as they are handed around in a program. A new list will be created if you attempt to add an element to an existing Elixir list. Since states are not continually changing, data consistency is preserved, and it is simpler to find errors.
The Model of Concurrency
Compared to previous systems, Elixir employs a concurrency paradigm instead of parallelism. To ensure that two pieces of code are run at different times and in various contexts, concurrency is used. Lightweight threads connect by exchanging messages. On the other hand, parallelism occurs when both pieces of code are run simultaneously. Elixir’s concurrency capability makes it possible to run under heavy demand without experiencing any problems.
Conciseness
Web development with Elixir focuses on creating short, clear-cut functions that are easy to understand. It’s not random since you can see the data supplied through a function and what is received at the other end. Concise functions make testing and modifying the code easier at a basic level.
Refactoring in less time
To put it simply, refactoring in programming is a way to tidy up old code without disrupting its current functionality. In order to prevent expensive mistakes in the future, code restructuring is a good first step. However, if proper precautions are not followed, it may break. However, this is not the case with Elixir! Code immutability makes refactoring much simpler and less stressful.
Tolerance for Error
As the saying goes, “Let it Crash” is the catchphrase for Elixir and Erlang’s approach to fault tolerance. But isn’t it the opposite of what you’d expect? So why not do any defensive programming when anything goes wrong? Because a mistake in other languages may bring down the whole program, fault tolerance in the Elixir language merely restarts the impacted components in the event of an error. A single process fails, yet the remainder of the system continues to function normally.
Nature’s Processes
Unlike other languages, the Elixir programming language has the unique ability to rewrite code as the service grows. Rather than rewriting the whole code, it simply requires a few tweaks at certain points. Elixir’s ability to effectively parallelize workloads is credited with this. It is again ascribed to Erlang’s ability to run atop it. Thanks to Phoenix, Elixir can do several tasks with a smaller memory footprint and less impact on speed. We’ve now arrived at the point where we’re most interested. Phoenix is a framework for building websites.
Phoenix: Frontend Elixir in Use
As we saw before, Elixir’s use in contemporary web development has grown with the introduction of Phoenix. For Elixir programming, it is a web framework developed in Elixir that uses the Erlang VM, and it has a top-notch development mentality.
With the functional competency of Elixir, Phoenix can build dynamic web applications that keep up with market demands. It was created using the MVC design pattern and is also BEAM-compatible. When Phoenix first started developing websites, he was inspired by Ruby’s usage of Rails. Elixir-Phoenix is a great option if you’re looking for a fast, scalable, and secure platform. This is because Phoenix is still relatively unknown.
In the grand scheme of things, the advantages clearly exceed the disadvantages. Phoenix, for example, gets credit for servicing a large number of customers with great fault tolerance, while Ruby developers worry about its slowness. Is it even worth mentioning? Phoenix is the progeny of Elixir and Erlang for obvious reasons and will undoubtedly benefit from all of their advantages, including simplicity, speed, scalability, dependability, maintainability, and productivity.
Elixir-powered companies
The Elixir framework seems to be a popular choice for developers, and it seems that firms who want to grow are also using it as a fundamental technology. See who has picked Elixir for their project!
When it comes to automating marketing and streamlining the supply chain, Elixir is a key partner for PepsiCo. It’s no secret that Moz, the well-known search engine optimization analytics business, used the Elixir data indexing approach to create a database-free architecture.
Erlang was used to support messaging platforms such as Whatsapp, WeChat, and Facebook because of their enormous user bases.
Elixir routes more than 30k events per second to the app’s rule engine for spam prevention. Additionally, the app estimates a tenfold reduction in the size of its codebase. Thanks to Elixir’s support of its notification system