Elixir is a renowned and newish programming language that is mostly used for high-traffic websites and highly scalable apps. Demand for Elixir development has increased in recent years, particularly for large-scale applications with thousands of users, such as social networking and news services.
The Elixir programming language was first released in 2012 by José Valim, a well-known Ruby developer and part of the Rails Core Team. Valim's objective was to create a programming language with high concurrency and low latency. To do this, he merged the greatest features of the Erlang, Ruby, and Clojure programming languages.
So, why is elixir becoming so popular, and what are its benefits and drawbacks? Let's look at the benefits and drawbacks of Elixir.
The Perks of Working with Elixir
There is a whole list of advantages that are pursuing more and more developers to adopt Elixir programming for their projects.
Concurrency
While developing a web app or mobile app that will pass through the hands of millions of people worldwide, the challenge to run several processes simultaneously needs to be dealt with meticulously. Handling multiple requests from multiple users in real-time can be devastating when you are also trying to avoid negative consequences such as slowing down of the application.
But what’s interesting is that the Elixir programming language was developed with this type of concurrency in mind. Giants recognized its importance and made Elixir its development language like Pinterest and Moz.
Scalability
Since Elixir’s father is Erlang VM, it is able to run applications on multiple communicating nodes. It facilitates developers to build larger web applications that you can scale up on different servers. Most importantly, having multiple virtualized servers over a distributed network carves the way to a better app performance.
Highly Fault Tolerant
Elixir is more fault-tolerant than related programming languages such as Ruby, Java, Python, and others. It is one of the most robust systems available today in terms of error resistance. When a failure occurs, Elixir supervisors come to the rescue and aid in detailing how to take steps to guarantee complete recovery. They work together to create a hierarchical process structure known as a supervision tree. A supervision tree guarantees that programmes run smoothly and reliably.
Ease of Use
Elixir is a functional programming language that is simple to learn and use. It uses basic formulas to safely and efficiently convert data. This is just another reason why so many developers choose Elixir and why so many programmers are studying the language.
Phoenix Framework
Phoenix is the most popular Elixir framework. It's comparable to how Ruby works with Rails. The Elixir/Phoenix mix makes learning and using Elixir simple for those who have previously utilized Rails. Phoenix with Elixir enables real-time server processing with JavaScript on the client side. It improves the product's efficiency and speed, resulting in a better overall user experience.
A Community of Developers
Although Elixir is a relatively new language, it has had enough time to build an active user community in which even highly trained engineers are eager to assist and share their experience. Furthermore, there is a wealth of guidance and tutorials readily available for Elixir developers.
The Pitfalls of Elixir!
Language doesn’t come without faults. Read the challenges developers face while working on Elixir programming:
Expensive Dollar
Because Elixir is still a young language, there aren't as many qualified and experienced Elixir developers to pick from when hiring programmers. Elixir developers are scarce and far more expensive than Java or Ruby expertise. Furthermore, it is unlikely that your present in-house development staff is familiar with Elixir, therefore they will need to learn the language before working on any Elixir projects.
Erlang Geek
Because Elixir is built on the Erlang platform, your development team must be fluent in Erlang in order to deliver the best product. The Erlang ecosystem has a significant number of libraries that are quite useful throughout the development process.
Processing Speed
When it comes to sheer CPU power and processing speed, Elixir is a poor choice. If your application or solution requires a lot of number crunching, you should definitely use a different language for that and then incorporate it into Elixir.
If your system is doing a high volume of concurrent I/O and CPU operations, Elixir can help, as Erlang was designed with low latency and predictable performance in mind.
Are You Moving Forward with Elixir?
Elixir programming language is your salvation if you are looking for a fault tolerant and high performance app. Before you decide upon starting a project, finding a team of competent developers should be your high priority. The right team will have the full understanding of your project’s scope and timeline.
