zacksiri
Elixir: Agent Basics - [016][Free]
Hey Everyone
We recently released a free episode and 4 member’s exclusive episode in our Elixir Foundation series. In this episode I talk about when / why you should use Agents. Let us know your thoughts!
First Post!
Fl4m3Ph03n1x
Elixir Foundation?
To me this is rather interesting. Is it an open foundation, meaning, can I join if I want to?
Also, you mention this one is free. I didn’t have trouble but I assume some episodes will be locked behind a paywall, right?
Why use Agents?
Because they give you an additional level of abstraction… Why use airplanes? Because they give you a different means to perform geospatial traveling within a shorter frame on the time axis of the 4D chart reality exists on.
Did you get it? No? Neither did anyone else learning Elixir.
From what I understand you explain Agents before finishing all of GenServer’s features. IMHO, this was a mistake. If I don’t fully understand GenServer, I cannot value what Agent brings to the table.
Don’t take me wrong, I am one of the guys who thinks there are reasons to use Agents, namely:
- Reduced boilerplate code (less repeated code that you have to do over and over)
- Shorter servers which lead to less bugs (there is a mathematical relation between the number of lines of code a file has and bugs. The more lines something has, the higher the probability of a bug).
- Less mental load and complexity.
You may prefer the lower level approach via GenServer, and that’s fine, but these benefits hold value as well. I didn’t see you explaining them, instead you jumped right into Get and update.
But for me, what the video really lacks is an answer to the following question…
Why shoulnd’t I use Agent?
Someone who watches this single video will believe Agents replace GenServers. Such is not true. Agents lacks some of the capabilities GenServers have and this is a major factor people consider when they tell you they just use GenServer and don’t bother with Agents.
My evil opinion
You may have had the impression from my second paragraph I didn’t like your work. This is not true - I am by default a hard critic and I apologize if I hurt you. People in this community are not like me, so don’t be afraid 
Truth is I like quite liked the video:
- post production effects were nice
- short and straight to the point
- real code examples
Videos like this take a lot of work I know for a fact. I just think the topic on Agents could have taken another approach.
Hope you guys keep on doing this great work!
Most Liked
AstonJ
A foundation course usually tackles the basics of something (in preparation for advanced books/courses) 
If you need to say something like that then, generally speaking, it’s a good indication that your thoughts could have been articulated in a more amicable, constructive or acceptable manner.
Please remember that people creating educational content (as well as those making libraries, languages and frameworks) put a lot of time and effort into what they do, and so feedback is generally best provided as kindly as possible.
This part of your post in particular is concerning:
I am by default a hard critic and I apologize if I hurt you.
There’s no need to be a ‘hard’ critic. Please just be a ‘nice’ one. Thanks!
zacksiri
Thank you for your work on this forum, it’s become a great place for the elixir community. I’m currently working on more elixir content once my site / content is more ready I looking forward to becoming a sponsor of elixir forum.
Popular in Screencasts
Other popular topics
Latest on Elixir Forum
Sponsor Spotlight
Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.
Categories:
Sub Categories:
Forums
Popular Tags
- #ecto
- #liveview
- #troubleshooting
- #learning-elixir
- #deployment
- #library
- #erlang
- #testing
- #genserver
- #mix
- #absinthe
- #remote-other
- #otp
- #plug
- #how-to-question
- #macros
- #postgres
- #channels
- #elixirconf
- #exunit
- #discussion
- #code-sync
- #javascript
- #podcasts
- #onsite
- #dialyzer
- #docker
- #authentication
- #umbrella
- #full-time-contract
- #podcasts-by-brainlid
- #ecto-query
- #elixir-ls
- #phoenix_html
- #iex
- #blog-post
- #graphql
- #genstage
- #ai
- #websockets
- #supervisor
- #elixirconf-us
- #advent-of-code
- #distillery
- #processes
- #api
- #forms
- #metaprogramming
- #security
- #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.
Catch errors, track performance, monitor hosts and more.
Error tracking for Elixir devs who love to ship. Start your free account.
Develop your skills with books, videos, and courses.
Producing high quality Elixir screencasts since 2017.
Enabling companies to succeed by building software people love.
The team behind Membrane, Popcorn, LiveDebugger. Available for hire.
Courses that'll move you from confusion to "Aha, now I get it!"