Phoenix & Ecto Made Me a Backend Engineer – Doug VonMoser | ElixirConf US

[ElixirConf]

Phoenix & Ecto Made Me a Backend Engineer – Doug VonMoser | ElixirConf US 2025

Phoenix & Ecto Made Me a Backend Engineer – Doug VonMoser | ElixirConf US 2025

This talk was recorded at ElixirConf US 2025. If you’re curious about our upcoming event, check https://elixirconf.com✨
Stepping into backend development can feel overwhelming. When I first encountered Elixir, Phoenix, and Ecto, a lot of the conventions felt opaque. Why are controllers and plugs structured this way? What’s the deal with contexts? And why are these changeset things everywhere??

It wasn’t until I really got into the framework—building things, reading through the docs, getting feedback in code reviews—that I started to realize something: Phoenix and Ecto weren’t just tools, they were guides. Best practices aren’t something you have to chase—they’re baked right into the framework.

This talk explores how Phoenix’s architecture and Ecto’s abstractions naturally lead you toward robust, maintainable, and secure application design. We’ll decode the “why” behind the generators and folder structure—like how mix phx.gen.html introduces domain-driven design through contexts, how changesets enforce data validation at the right layer, and how phx.gen.auth scaffolds secure, plug-based authentication.

By the end, you’ll see how Phoenix and Ecto don’t just help you build apps—they help you grow as a backend engineer, guiding you toward best practices in software design, architecture, and security.

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