Introducing Elixir: Getting Started in Functional Programming

by Simon St. Laurent, J. David Eisenberg

Elixir is an excellent language if you want to learn about functional programming, and with this hands-on introduction, you’ll discover just how powerful and fun Elixir can be. This language combines the robust functional programming of Erlang with a syntax similar to Ruby, and includes powerful features for metaprogramming. This book shows you how to write simple Elixir programs by teaching one skill at a time. Once you pick up pattern matching, process-oriented programming, and other concepts, you’ll understand why Elixir makes it easier to build concurrent and resilient programs that scale up and down with ease.

Genres: Programming, Nonfiction, Computers, Technology, Technical

207 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Simon St. Laurent is a Content Manager at LinkedIn Learning, focusing primarily on front-end web projects. He has been co-chair of the Fluent conference and of OSCON. He's authored or co-authored books including Introducing Elixir, Introducing Erlang, Learning Rails 3, XML Pocket Reference, 3rd, XML: A Primer, and Cookies.

You can find more of his writing on technology, Quakerism, and the Town of Dryden at simonstl.com.

Reviews

[Dmitry Konovalchuk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a bad copy of Elixir's documentation

[Hvn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got the book from Humble Bundle Functional Programming, I read it in one shot straight. It is okay, covering all features of Elixir.
The cool thing of the book that it uses only 1 example from the beginning till the last chapter - what a so consistent content.
Though, it feels like reading Elixir tutorial + Phoenix tutorial with sole one example.
Mnesia is a good part which not in Elixir tut and you have to use Elixir lib for it / or know Erlang already.
The part on error handling is so basic - it said that in Elixir let it fall is the way to do, but don't explain further.
Learn some good tips like: cd , pwd, v, :dbg, display Mnesia table on GUI which not available now in Elixir tut.

[Julio Biason · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a way, this is an "Introducing" book, so one shouldn't expect some deep knowledge about the language after reading it. But also, sometimes it feels a bit too "shallow" to gather some proper understanding of the language.

One thing that kept bugging me was the fact that code kept changing: Not in the "going forward" kind of change, which is good, explain the basic, then start adding more complex/shorter solutions, but "let me bend this to another direction and completely ignore that direction later".

But to get a "feeling" of the language, it is a good book.

[Alvaro Tejada Galindo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book...nice if you have read any other Elixir book before...it's good for reference or for knowledge refreshing...but wouldn't choose it as a starter book...as it just scratches the surface without going to deep in detail...

Would love to give it more than 3 stars...but it have so few examples...

Anyway...not a bad book...just simple...

[Alin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having to learn to think in tail-recursive functions all the time instead of what I'm used to in most programming languages meant Elixir was a headache to learn and feels more like an IQ test when writing in it. The book is not too bad at explaining the concepts, and does a pretty good job at easing the learning process, just not an exceptional job.

[Scott Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to Elixir. Basic syntax, semantics, debugging, observation, testing, and a brief introduction to GenServer and Supervisor. Exactly what I wanted before I went off to read and write in a new programming language!

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the second Elixir book I read so naturally I read this one faster. I also find it much easier to read. The examples are easy to understand. Almost like Ruby without its functional programming features.

[Wesley Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like a reasonable overview of Elixir. The book seemed a little confused about whether it was an introduction to programming or just Elixir though. I feel it could have assumed more programming experience and built on that to introduce Elixir and its distinguishing features.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but really quite basic. Unless you are completely you new to Erlang and/or FP, you're probably better off with some other book. In all fairness, the foreword does say as much.

[Deepak Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief intro into elixir with simple examples, They could have give better examples yet it is ok and good for beginners.

[Nikolay Manolov · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book lacks cohesion. It consists of an index of the language features with corresponding examples. I found the examples to be made up.

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it says, it's just an introduction. In fact, I find the documentation more helpful.
It's a toy book.

[Umut Gökbayrak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written fast introduction to Elixir programming language. But remember it is just an introduction. It is not enough to understand how things actually work.

[Nikhil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it - I found it to be a bit more suited for my learning method.

[Romenig Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice Book. For begining with Elixir you learn the basics and in the final chapter you have a little experience with the Phoenix framework.

[Romenig Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book for beginnners with Elixir!