Build Your Own Web Framework in Elixir

Discover the secrets of building high-performing and scalable web applications with clean code using Elixir's metaprogramming

Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Key Features

• Explore the various web servers available to build robust web applications
• Leverage Elixir's powerful Plug module to build a request-response pipeline
• Explore advanced techniques of Elixir to create Domain-Specific languages and build scalable, maintainable web products

Book Description

Elixir's functional nature and metaprogramming capabilities make it an ideal language for building web frameworks, with Phoenix being the most ubiquitous framework in the Elixir ecosystem and a popular choice for companies seeking scalable web-based products. With an ever-increasing demand for Elixir engineers, developers can accelerate their careers by learning Elixir and the Phoenix web framework.

With Build Your Own Web Framework in Elixir, you'll start by exploring the fundamental concepts of web development using Elixir. You'll learn how to build a robust web server and create a router to direct incoming requests to the correct controller. Then, you'll learn to dispatch requests to controllers to respond with clean, semantic HTML, and explore the power of Domain-Specific Languages (DSL) and metaprogramming in Elixir. You'll develop a deep understanding of Elixir's unique syntax and semantics, allowing you to optimize your code for performance and maintainability. Finally, you'll discover how to effectively test each component of your application for accuracy and performance.

By the end of this book, you'll have a thorough understanding of how Elixir components are implemented within Phoenix, and how to leverage its powerful features to build robust web applications.

What you will learn

• Get a comprehensive understanding of the Phoenix framework built on Elixir
• Use metaprogramming to optimize your Elixir code and create high-performance web applications
• Explore web development fundamentals including the principles of HTTP and HTML
• Employ Elixir's templating engine to dispatch requests to a controller and respond with dynamically generated HTML
• Improve the scalability and responsiveness of your web server by using OTP constructs
• Streamline your routing logic using error handling

Who this book is for

This book is for web developers seeking to deepen their understanding of Elixir's role in the Phoenix framework. Basic familiarity with Elixir is a must.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing the Cowboy Web Server
2. Building an HTTP Server in Elixir
3. Defining Web Application Specifications Using Plug
4. Working with Controllers
5. Adding Controller Plugs and Action Fallback
6. Working with HTML and Embedded Elixir
7. Working with Views
8. Metaprogramming- Code That Writes Code
9. Controller and View DSL
10. Building the Router DSL

Adi Iyengar is a Senior Software Engineer who has worked with Elixir since 2015. Over those years, he has worked across a wide array of applications, and authored / contributed to several open source projects including Elixir itself.

He is passionate about mentoring and sharing his knowledge with others, which is why he actively mentors Junior developers in Elixir and Software Engineering. He loves Elixir, Functional Programming and Test Driven Development.

When not coding, Adi can be seen playing Billiards, playing Guitar or Breakdancing. Adi also spends a good amount of his time keeping up with new developments in Particle Physics.