2024 is the year Elixir will turn 10 years old. That’s not particularly old for a programming language, especially considering that the first stable release came out 4 months ago. Nevertheless, in that time, it has managed to carve out a niche for itself as a reliable, efficient, and scalable language that is well suited for building concurrent and distributed systems.
It is known for its friendly syntax and powerful abstractions, which seemingly makes it a great choice for beginners.
In fact, many experienced developers have turned to Elixir after growing frustrated with other languages. So if you’re looking for a language that is both beginner-friendly and battle-tested, Elixir may just be the perfect choice for you.
But, let’s explore that further.
What Is Elixir?
Elixir is a functional, concurrent programming language built on top of the Erlang VM. Elixir developed out of a desire to improve upon some of Erlang’s limitations, such as imperfect support for metadata and a lack of extensibility.
As a result, Elixir combines the best features of both Erlang and Ruby, making it an ideal choice for building scalable, robust applications.
Thanks to its structure-sharing capabilities, Elixir is also an excellent choice for working with data-heavy applications.
And because Elixir runs on the BEAM virtual machine, it inherits all of the benefits of the Erlang VM, including low-latency performance and superior fault tolerance.
So, whether you’re looking for an alternative to Erlang or a modern language for building concurrent applications, Elixir is definitely worth considering.
What Are The Benefits Of Elixir?
There are many features and benefits of Elixir that make it an attractive choice for programming. And, since we’ve mentioned a few of the features and benefits of it already, let’s dive into each a little bit.
Functional Programming
As we’ve said, this is a dynamic, functional programming language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications.
Unlike mainstream languages like Java or Python, this code is structured in functions and modules instead of objects and classes.
This comes with multiple benefits:
- Better serviceability
- Clearer testing and debugging
- Effortless handling of concurrent programs
- Simpler code
As a result, this one is becoming increasingly popular for mission-critical applications that require high availability and performance.
Concurrency
Its use of lightweight processes and message passing makes it an excellent choice for concurrent programming.
The isolation of processes means that they can be run across all CPUs, without the risk of data corruption. And the steadfast data structures that are characteristic of functional programming languages make it easier to reason about concurrency.
In addition, its rich set of libraries and tools makes it easy to write concurrent programs. The language has been designed from the ground up to support concurrency, and its developers have put a lot of effort into making it easy to use.
Scalability
Part of the reason for this is Elixir’s deep roots in the Erlang ecosystem.
Erlang was designed from the ground up to be a robust tool for building large distributed systems. These same processes allow us to scale systems easily, either horizontally (adding more machines to the cluster) or vertically (using the machine’s available resources more efficiently).
Furthermore, this syntax is very clean and easy to read, making it simpler to maintain large codebases.
Reliability
This programming language has a unique approach to fault-tolerance which deals with most bugs quickly and efficiently making it super reliable.
This is due to the supervisor system which restarts processes quickly without compromising the rest of the system.
Also, it boasts an efficient garbage collector which reclaims memory when it is no longer needed, thus ensuring that programs do not suffer from memory leaks.
Why Should You Learn It?
According to Serokell, there is more than one reason for you to sit down and get to studying. So, let’s check them out.
It’s Fun
Learning this language is a lot of fun, and it’s easy to get started.
The language is similar to Erlang and Ruby (duh), so if you’re already familiar with those languages, you’ll be able to pick this one up quickly. To learn more about ruby click here.
One of the best things about Elixir is its immutability.
This means that when you’re refactoring code, you don’t have to worry about accidentally breaking something.
Overall, Elixir is a great choice for anyone who wants to learn a new programming language. It’s easy to learn, highly scalable, and very readable.
It’s In Demand
Elixir, which was originally conceived as a framework for building on-the-fly web applications, has quickly become a favorite among developers.
It is currently used by a number of large companies, including Pinterest, The Financial Times, Toyota, PepsiCo, and Bleacher Report.
A recent survey has shown that Elixir is now one of the most, if not the most loved programming languages.
As more companies explore adopting it in the coming years, there is bound to be an ever-increasing demand for developers proficient in it.
Learning it now could very well lead to a very rewarding career with plenty of job openings in the years to come.
It’s Very Fault-Resistant
If you’re looking for a programming language that is fault-resistant, you should definitely look this way. It’s a sight to behold over here.
Elixir is forgiving of mistakes, in contrast to many other languages. A basic error or a bug will not be able to bring down the whole system. Other languages, on the other hand, could experience a complete breakdown due to a single minor bug, like a zero-width space!
Since it utilizes multiple concurrent nodes, it prevents network, bugs, and other hosting issues from disrupting the procedures.
Consequently, working with Elixir is a very different experience – one that is more reliable and enjoyable. What a fun consequence, huh?
Final Verdict – Is Elixir Beginner-Friendly?
So, what do you think?
We’d say that Elixir is a great programming language for beginners, providing they’re willing to put in the effort to learn a new language.
It’s easy to read and scale, it’s fun, and it’s in demand.
So if you’re looking for a new language to learn, we recommend giving Elixir a try! Who knows, you might just fall in love with it.