amb85
I’ve been thinking about how I could use Elixir as a scripting language within a Rust application. I read an interesting discussion about Rustler, NIFs and Ports, but this doesn’t quite seem to meet the use case I envision.
What I really want is a Rust application with the Erlang BEAM and Elixir embedded (probably when the Rust application is compiled?). Rust should be the main entry point and would initiate execution of the Elixir scripts, with any necessary results/changes being propagated back to the Rust app. (I guess think of something like a game engine written in C++ with an embedded Lua scripting engine).
I can think of a couple options where Rust an Elixir portions are their own processes and use Ports to communicate. Or where the Rust app launches some mix task and uses NIFs to access other Rust functionality. Both of these approaches seem clunky.
Has anyone got any thoughts or suggestions on how I might approach achieving such a goal?
Where Next?
Trending in Questions
Other Trending Topics
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Error tracking, logs, APM, uptime and cron monitoring in one dev-friendly platform. Find and fix problems before your users notice.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #library
- #deployment
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #elixirconf
- #channels
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #podcasts
- #javascript
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ai
- #ecto-query
- #elixirconf-us
- #blog-post
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #elixirconf-eu
- #api
- #forms
- #metaprogramming
- #hex
Our Sponsors
Build Elixir applications with speed and confidence.
Supporting innovation across the BEAM ecosystem.
We build reliable cloud platforms for business-critical systems.
Error tracking, logs, uptime, and Just Enough APM. Built for developers.
Elixir, Erlang & BEAM conferences from Code Sync - join us in 2026!
Master modern tools, write cleaner code, and tackle real-world challenges.
Producing high quality Elixir screencasts since 2017.
**Building the future of software with AI, trust, and human connection.**
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"
Showing Posts 1 to 2- Show Best Posts
- Show All (oldest first)
- Show All (newest first)
hauleth
I have one simple question - WHY?
I mean BEAM wasn’t designed as a embedded scripting engine, so it isn’t easy accessible as one. You can though look at the Enigma which is BEAM implementation in Rust, so maybe you could integrate that.
TBH If you want embedded language in Rust then look into Lua(JIT), Ketos, or Dyon.
tme_317
You could potentially compile your elixir code as escripts, then just launch them from the Rust app sending necessary data as command line arguments or from stdin and reading the result from stdout.
This has some downsides and may not work or be performant enough depending on what you are trying to accomplish but it could work for you. Usually I do the opposite and launch fast Rust apps all the time from my main Elixir long-running app.