Long time ago, our main tech was Ruby. At the time, we've been working with a client: HEXO - a Canadian legal cannabis company. Our job was to build internal systems for their operations - these would span across many departments and use cases.
As the industry, the company, and the usage started growing exponentially, we started running into issues with our Ruby on Rails applications.
Some processes within the systems scaled 10/100/1000x, and not only the server bill went crazy, but we also stated having major performance bottlenecks. These availability issues kept me up at night a lot.
At the time, Elixir talk had started circulating the community, and it was a natural thing to try. In 2016, we were sponsoring a Ruby event in our city: Euruko, where Jose Valim had a talk about Elixir and we give it a shot.
Starting small
Our first Elixir project was a Phoenix-based Work Order system for plant production management. Coming from object-oriented programming, the functional approach felt different, but in a good way. The Phoenix controllers seemed a bit heavy at first, but the functional flow made sense once I got used to it.
Building an enterprise solution
The following year, we took on a bigger challenge with HEXO. They needed an Enterprise Service Bus-like application to handle data flows in their highly regulated environment. Elixir's transparency and performance made it perfect for this kind of system integration work.
Processing at scale
2018 was when we really started to see Elixir's concurrency model shine. We built a high-throughput fax processing system for HEXO that could easily handle large message volumes. The lightweight processes and supervised recovery made dealing with integration edge cases much more manageable.
We also created a document processing system that regularly handled over 10,000 documents per hour. The concurrent processing capabilities meant we could scale up without the usual performance headaches.
Real-Time integration
By 2019, we were tackling more integration challenges with Elixir. We built a sync application that connected Microsoft Dynamics NAV with an e-commerce platform, handling real-time data flows for product updates and inventory management. The supervised processes and retry mechanisms kept everything running smoothly.
We also developed a SOC2-compliant user management platform using Phoenix, which gave our client the robust access control they needed for their enterprise environment.
Scaling up in 2020
2020 brought some of our largest projects yet. We implemented a Phoenix-based API gateway that powers a React e-commerce frontend, handling traffic for around 20,000 clients with consistently low latency.
We also built a real-time order tracking system that integrates with major Canadian carriers, giving customers full visibility into their shipments. On the AI side, we created an application that manages communication with multiple SageMaker models, handling prediction data and resource provisioning.
Diverse applications in 2021
We started work on an SMS communication platform for an LA startup and built a lightweight e-commerce solution for an NGO that needed something simple but effective.
Another challenging project was a live inventory system that pulled data from multiple inconsistent sources. Elixir's fault-tolerance and concurrency made it possible to automate tasks that would have been impossible to handle manually.
AI and healthcare
We developed a property enrichment system that uses AI models to standardize product attributes across catalogs. The system cleans up messy data and makes it more searchable and reliable.
We also built a secure backend API for a health-focused mobile app serving medical cannabis patients. Healthcare data privacy requirements made Elixir's security features particularly valuable.
More advanced real-time
2023 was all about real-time applications. We created a Phoenix LiveView trading application that enriches trader data with external market information, performing complex calculations on the fly. The concurrent data pipelines handle large volumes of financial data without missing a beat.
We also built a direct messaging system for a peer-to-peer marketplace using LiveView, delivering a dynamic user experience without heavy JavaScript libraries.
Automation and mobile in 2024
Last year, we developed a cryptocurrency trading application that runs market simulations and executes trades automatically based on live conditions. We also created a task management platform for a property management company, with real-time updates and mobile-friendly LiveView interfaces for field workers.
Looking Forward to 2025
In 2025, our commitment to Elixir continues to grow. We're enhancing existing applications while developing new ones, with LiveView playing an increasingly important role in our projects.
What gives me confidence to continue recommending Elixir to our clients is that, looking back over these years, at no point did the thought "boy, now, I wish we hadn't used that.." come to my mind. Elixir has managed to consistently deliver on its promises.