AstonJ
by Saša Jurić
Elixir in Action teaches you to apply the new Elixir programming language to practical problems associated with scalability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and high availability.
About the technology
Elixir is a modern programming language that takes advantage of BEAM, the Erlang virtual machine, without the burden of Erlang’s complex syntax and conventions. Elixir gives you Ruby-like elegance with the power to develop bulletproof distributed server systems that can handle massive numbers of simultaneous clients and run with almost no downtime.
About the book
Elixir in Action teaches you how to solve practical problems of scalability, concurrency, fault tolerance, and high availability using Elixir. You’ll start with the language, learning basic constructs and building blocks. Then, you’ll learn to think about problems using Elixir’s functional programming mindset. With that solid foundation, you’ll confidently explore Elixir’s seamless integration with BEAM and Erlang’s powerful OTP framework of battle-tested abstractions you can use immediately. Finally, the book provides guidance on how to distribute a system over multiple machines and control it in production.
What’s inside
- Practical introduction to the Elixir language
- Functional programming idioms
- Mastering the OTP framework
- Creating deployable releases
- About the reader:
- Requires no previous experience with Elixir, Erlang, or the OTP. Written for readers who are familiar with another programming language like Ruby, JavaScript, or C#.
About the author
Saša Jurić is a developer with extensive experience using Elixir and Erlang in high-volume, concurrent server-side systems.
Don’t forget you can get 35% off the ebook with your forum discount, use code devtalk.com 
Second Edition Now Available:
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Third Edition Now Available:
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Don’t forget you can get 45% off the ebook using the code ‘devtalk.com’
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AstonJ
Just finished this book - loved it!
I’ve been reading it concurrently with Programming Elixir
I read 50% of Programming Elixir first (the language bits) and then jumped to Elixir in Action because it covers much of the same ground on the language side of things. This suited me perfectly because it saved me having to write notes (I find going over things is a great way to ‘repeat and reinforce’ what I’ve learnt). These two books are a fantastic combo if this is your preferred learning style too.
I am surprised this is Saša’s first book - it’s very well written. It moves at a quicker pace than Programming Elixir on the language side of things (which is another reason why I think they work very well together if read concurrently as mentioned above).
Saša also covers much more than just the fundamentals of the language; after the basics you cover processes and OTP in quite some detail (and from what I’ve read so far, goes into more detail here than PE). You actually build your own server process before he introduces you to GenServers (which I felt was an excellent way to demystify them) - you’ll definitely leave feeling as though you have a fantastic insight into Elixir and Erlang!
If you will be reading this together with Programming Elixir I recommend reading 50% of Programming Elixir first, then 100% of Elixir in Action, then finishing with the remainder of Programming Elixir (partly because of what I’ve said above and partly because PE’s been updated more recently - so when you’re done you will be relatively ‘up-to-date’
).
Overall, this book definitely gets a huge
from me! If you haven’t got it - get it! Well done @sasajuric - I can’t wait to see what you put out next!
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sasajuric
Elixir in Action 3rd edition is now in print
This edition addresses various deprecations and mistakes that have accumulated over the past 5 years. It also includes a few additions, such as a brief treatment of packaging the release into a Docker container. Finally, the book has received a lovely foreword by @FrancescoC (
).
You can grab it at 45% off using code pbjuric3 (valid until Feb 27) at Elixir in Action, Third Edition - Saša Jurić.
Enjoy the read!
sasajuric
I’m happy to announce that the 2nd. edition is now released. You can grab it at Elixir in Action, Second Edition - Saša Jurić
sasajuric
I’m happy to inform you that Manning and I have reached an agreement for the second edition. The new version will be a mechanical update addressing the obsolete stuff (such as
HashDict), and explaining some new features (e.g. thewithspecial form and theRegistry).I also have some ideas for expanding the book (covering some additional topics, and maybe doing some minor restructuring), but this will require much more work, so it will be done in some subsequent edition, possibly combined with a more significant update (e.g. to Elixir 2.0).
Timewise, I’m currently tied up in prepping a workshop and a talk, so I’ll start working on this beginning November. I expect to be finished somewhere in the 2nd quarter of 2018.