September 8, 2016
Newsletter

Let’s Talk About:

Accelerating Apps with Elixir and Phoenix

Elixir is a relatively new functional programming language that leverages the battle-hardened Erlang environment to deliver scalable and maintainable applications. Phoenix is a modern web application framework that uses Elixir’s beautiful syntax and productive tooling for building fault-tolerant and distributed systems. Together, they pave the way for a bright future with real-time and highly concurrent web applications. Recently, we created Gifbowl, a web-based game, using Elixir on the back end and React on the front end.

Announcing... Gifbowl!


Community Thoughts on Accelerating Apps with Elixir and Phoenix...

  1. 1. Elixir in Action Elixir in Action teaches you to apply the new Elixir programming language to practical problems associated with scalability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and high availability.
  2. 2. Programming Phoenix Don’t accept the compromise between fast and beautiful: you can have it all. Phoenix creator Chris McCord, Elixir creator José Valim, and award-winning author Bruce Tate walk you through building an application that’s fast and reliable. At every step, you’ll learn from the Phoenix creators not just what to do, but why. Packed with insider insights, this definitive guide will be your constant companion in your journey from Phoenix novice to expert, as you build the next generation of web applications.
  3. 3. Phoenix Channels vs. Rails ActionCable At DockYard, we transitioned our backend development from Ruby and Rails to Elixir and Phoenix once it became clear that Phoenix better served our clients needs to take on the modern web. As we’ve seen, Phoenix is Not Rails, but we borrow some of their great ideas. We were also delighted to give back in the other direction when Rails announced that Rails 5.0 would be shipping with Action Cable – a feature that takes inspiration from Phoenix Channels.
  4. 4. What I learned migrating a Rails app to Elixir / Phoenix So I’m sure there will be many more transition patterns that are useful in migrating a Rails app but so far I’ve found the process not only pretty painless but also feels vastly superior. Not to mention just how much faster the Elixir app is; response times under 100ms bring joy to the heart.
  5. 5. What makes Phoenix Presence special, and a sneak peek Phoenix Presence is an upcoming feature in Phoenix 1.2 which brings support for registering process information on a topic and replicating this information transparently across a cluster. What’s special about Phoenix’s implementation is we have a system that applies cutting edge CS research to tackle day-to-day problems in the applications we all write.

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