Elixir
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Definition of the Language
Elixir is a dynamic functional language that is used to create applications which can be maintained easily. The language uses the Erlang virtual machine (BEAM) platform which is known to run systems featuring low latency and that have high fault tolerance. The language, therefore, provides the developers with a tool to create applications that have a lot to do with networking.
The language compiles code for the BEAM platform. A striking feature of this language is the usage of metaprogramming which allows easy and direct manipulation of the syntactic structure of the code. In addition to that, the language is designed in a way to recognize everything as an expression. This makes it easier for the programmers to use the language in the creation of apps.
The viability of the Erlang Virtual Machine (BEAM) in creating low latency applications has made the language very popular among the network application developers. With increasing popularity of internet in everything, the language itself is becoming very popular. In addition to that, the language is also open source which makes its use, modification and reproduction cost free.
As a result, it is the preference of many developers. With this popularity, an online community is also developed where the users discuss the problems faced while using the language and the solutions that worked.
History of Elixir
Created by José Valim in 2012, elixir is a language that has become very useful in recent times. The language was created in a research and development project sponsored by Plataformatec. The major aim of the developer was to improve the flexibility and productivity of the Erlang Virtual Machine (BEAM) while keeping the functionality of the tools provided by Erlang.
The result of his endeavors was Elixir. The language was launched under the Apache license. This license allows the people to use, modify and distribute the language without paying royalty to the developers. This can be taken as one of the reasons behind the popularity of this language.
From the beginning of its journey in 2012, the language has experienced many changes, which were the need of the time. The starting version was 0.5.0 launched on 25th May 2012. Following that, the language was altered many times and required bug fixes were introduced in the successive versions. The most recent stable release of the language is version 1.3 which was rolled out on 21st June 2016.
