I think it’s a big advantage that Elixir and Rust had an official build/package manager from early on.
Clojure has Leinengen but it also has Boot and now it has an official sanctioned build tool so it’s a somewhat more complicated situation.
ritchiey
slouchpie
It depends on what is meant by “newbie”. I can think of two interpretations:
-
A “newbie” to Elixir who has programming experience in some mainstream language(s), e.g. Javascript, C++, Python, C#, Java, etc. For such a person, i would show them Processes, GenServers and the IEx shell (with custom .iex.exs for fun). Also use
remshto show them how you can open a shell into a running process, even on another computer. -
A “newbie” to programming who is just learning to write code. I don’t know what to show this person. Maybe scaffold a Phoenix app in 2 minutes and show them that? I cannot imagine starting my coding life with Elixir. I feel like Elixir is the language you discover after travelling a difficult road of JS, OOP, .NET, etc. I actually think Javascript is the best language to show someone who is a true “newbie” because you can show them how to open the devtools console and write a “program” to delete the window that asks for your cookies preferences and that’s going to make any normie feel like Mr Robot.
4
sushant12
chaichai
The reason why I publish this question is that I want to introduce Elixir to my colleagues. anyway, thanks a lot ! Now I know share what features to them.
1
sergio
Things that made me stay:
- Pattern matching
- Piping
- Genserver for cheap running background tasks
0
stefanluptak
I am not sure, if that was already mentioned, I didn’t read this thread thoroughly, but for me, this forum is a BIG plus of the whole Elixir ecosystem. It’s full of very nice and very smart people, that are always willing to help. 
1
eksperimental
I think Elixir is a really good candidate as a first language for someone. They can learn functional programming from the get go, and won’t have to carry the usual baggage that a lot of programmers that turned to functional programming have to.
3
Exadra37
I would share two things:
First, one of this two by @pragdave, because they are similar, just the media different…
Elixir for Programmers video course
Programming Elixir 1.6 book
The best book and/or video course to be introduced to Functional Programming in Elixir. It was the one that made me the click for my brain to switch from thinking in Object Orientate Programming way to Functional Programming way of doing things.
The Soul of Erlang and Elixir
This talk given by @sasajuric is the best overview that anyone can take to understand the power of the BEAM.
You can see my video notes on it here:
:
1