Elixir has become more and more popular in the programming world for a while now. The banking industry has given more attention because of its reliability and ability to manage heavy traffic. Data is frequently tracked, verified, consolidated, and monitored while ensuring complete security with no mistakes. It is also a better choice for scalable applications that require smooth operations.

This article will introduce Elixir as an alternative for popular programming languages, present its essential functions, pros, cons, and why you should consider it in your subsequent development.

What is Elixir?

According to the official Elixir website;

Elixir is a flexible language designed for developing scalable and maintainable applications. Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, runs low-latency, distributes fault-tolerant systems, and is also carefully used in web development and the software domain.

The language was developed in 2011 by José Valim, a former member of the Ruby team. It has a similar expressive syntax look and style. Aside from Ruby, Elixir is created and built upon Erlang. Due to its byte-code compatibility with the Erlang VM (BEAM) – used by companies like Whatsapp, Netflix, and Pinterest – is usable with it and its ecosystem and performances. Elixir is capable of handling huge traffics while delivering high performance and unique features. It was also based on the actor model – a concurrency model used to create systems.

Reg to StackOverflow, Elixir is among the top 10 most beneficial programming languages.

Main features of Elixir

Elixir brings functional programming with immutable states together and an actor-based approach to concurrency. It all is contained in a tidy, modern syntax. So what is the function of this efficient programming language? Let’s look at them together.

Built on Erlang VM

Elixir has access to all the concurrency equipment that Erlang has. It makes it one of the most efficient languages suitable for creating highly scalable, distributed systems while maintaining functions.

Dynamic typing

Elixir has dynamic typing, unlike other functional languages such as Scala or Haskell. Dynamic typing ensures that types are checked not during compilation but in run-time. It improves the development speed for web and mobile applications. What is more, is that static kinds can show in Elixir through type specs.

Ruby-like syntax

If you know how to use Ruby already, you know how to navigate Elixir since their syntaxes feel intensely familiar. Although Ruby is one of the most productive-oriented and concise languages, it lacks performance and concurrency. Those difficulties are solved by Erlang VM, making Elixir the best solution.

A functional language

Elixir and Erlang are frequently characterized as being in a platform of their own (as process-oriented). Elixir also has everything you would expect from modern FP languages, such as immutable data structures, which help with pattern matching for declarative code.

Pros of Elixir:

Scalable

Because Elixir operates on Erlang VM, it can use applications on multiple communicating nodes. It means it is effortless to develop more extensive web, mobile, and IoT apps that can easily be scaled over different servers, leading to better app performance.

Concurrency

The ability to run several methods simultaneously is essential when developing an app used by millions of users. In Elixir, several requests from multiple users can be taken care of simultaneously in real-time with no adverse effects.

Easy to use

Elixir is straightforward to read and write. It uses simple extensions to change data safely and efficiently. Many developers prefer Elixir for their projects, and why many new programmers are also learning it.

Fault-tolerant

Fault tolerance is practically one of the prominent features of Elixir. It offers built-in safety mechanisms that ensure the product work even when something goes wrong. Processes provide any failures to dependent processes are known, even on other servers, so that any challenges are fixed instantly.

Active community

Even though Elixir is quite an upcoming language that developed an active user platform where everyone is willing to assist and share knowledge, what is more, is that there are also lots of tutorials available to help you through the development process.

Pattern matching

Different feature signatures enable making much clearer intentions of how the code should behave in various cases. It helps to make the code clean and concise.

Performance

If you were to go through similar solutions written in Ruby and Elixir, you would get the same result. However, the Elixir solution would be easy to scale and simpler to develop. Read the post How Elixir Helped Me improve App Performance if you want to learn more about Elixir performance.

Domain-driven design

Elixir uses the Actor model as an easy process, which means that all aggregate can be input into a process, and the process itself would guarantee the necessary isolation.

Summary

Functions like scalability, high reliability, and ease of testing within this functional programming language make it the best choice in the banking industry and huge sites like Pinterest, Netflix, and Whatsapp. Thus, the open-source libraries developed by the growing community around Elixir confirm 20 years of tooling experience performed by the Elang community.