5 top-tier companies that use Elixir

Elixir is a pretty capable language - and it consistently ranks near the top of most loved and wanted languages rankings.

It has a large following and some very persuasive preachers as well. But that would not be enough to make me like it – what I need as real proof of its strengths is real businesses that strive with Elixir.

That’s what this list is all about – a bunch of stories from top companies that chose Elixir and never looked back. Let us show you how its power and versatility shows in practice.

Spotify

If you want the insider story – jump straight here, where Joel Kemp, Spotify Staff Software Engineer, explains how Elixir helped him and his team break through some rough issues.

I will let Joel speak for himself:

At work, I’ve been maintaining a business-critical, JVM-based backend service that has to handle thousands of requests per second (we’ll call that a “high traffic” service). Without going into details, the service basically calls out to a database and another backend service on every request and then responds to the user’s request. It also does some off-request operations that are necessary for dealing with the database. The point is that there are some concurrent operations going on within the service for every request.

This is a perfect case for Elixir – a language that allows high-level concurrency unavailable in most languages. Don’t get concurrency and why does it matter? Here is another great explainer from Sophie DiBenedetto from Flatiron Labs as to why this particular aspect of Elixir rocks. Using her analogy, it allows you to load two washing machines at once!

Discord

Another technological big shot, Discord, has used Elixir extensively in its software. It proudly says it was an early adopter, as their real-time systems had to handle significant traffic, in millions of users and events every second.

Discord has published multiple interesting blog posts about its Elixir use, and it shows what the thinking process went into choosing it as one of their main technologies in the stack. To put it in simple terms from one of such entries:

We developed the original prototype of Discord in Elixir; which became the foundation of our infrastructure today. Elixir’s promise was simple: access the power of the Erlang VM through a much more modern and user-friendly language and toolset.

In the article quoted above, Discord CTO describes using Elixir to boost the efficiency of their service and upping its capability to over 5 million users at once. Just two years later Discord grew more than two-fold and published another article – this time showing how Elixir worked with Rust to further empower their software to allow 11+ million concurrent users.

This shows its adaptability and why it is sought after (with companies reporting a lack of Elixir specialists in recent years), and Discord still uses it for its server-side operations.

Pepsi Co

Pepsi had an interesting challenge – it is a beverage company, which had a bit of trouble in attracting serious engineers and developers.

Elixir proved to be a part of the solution. As discussed broadly in a great interview with Jason Fertel, eCommerce Engineering Lead, it helped the company cultivate an image of a serious technological competitor and build great products. Elixir became a vital part of Pepsi's tech stack, and parts of its infrastructure were rewritten in Elixir to improve its scalability and efficiency.

Square Enix

Looking for a job in a game development company? Japanese powerhouse Square Enix - author of legendary titles such as Final Fantasy, Tropico and upcoming Marvel’s Avengers actively recruits back-end developers with Elixir experience, and for good reasons. Handling its platform-wide authentication for all games at once, as credentials follow users through different games, requires some special programming abilities.

So anytime you go about building an economic powerhouse in Tropico or want to slay iconic Final Fantasy monsters, Elixir makes it all possible.

WhatsApp

Another software with a high requirement for efficient handling is WhatsApp – which in 2019 has been the most popular messaging app in the world, and grew exponentially after being acquired by Facebook in 2014. A couple of years ago it was lauded as one of the most innovative tech companies, as only 50 engineers were needed to service 900 million of its users.

Erlang, with its lightweight process architecture that later brought us Elixir, is a great fit for WhatsApp and even companies that exploit its platform for other purposes – like social impact projects ran in Elixir.

To learn what Elixir can bring to your business – give us a call!

FAQ

What is Elixir and why is it popular among top-tier companies?

Elixir is a programming language known for its high-level concurrency and efficiency, making it popular among companies for handling high traffic and real-time systems.

Which top-tier companies have adopted Elixir, and what benefits have they reported?

Companies like Spotify, Discord, PepsiCo, Square Enix, and WhatsApp have adopted Elixir, reporting benefits such as improved scalability, efficiency, and the ability to handle millions of users or events per second.

How does Elixir contribute to the technological needs of companies like Spotify and Discord?

Elixir assists companies like Spotify in handling business-critical backend services with high traffic, and helps Discord manage real-time systems for millions of users, enhancing their infrastructure.

In what way has Elixir impacted PepsiCo's technological approach?

PepsiCo utilized Elixir to improve its technological image and product scalability, demonstrating its effectiveness in non-technology focused industries as well.

What roles does Elixir play in the gaming industry, as seen with Square Enix?

Elixir is utilized in the gaming industry for backend services such as platform-wide authentication, demonstrating its versatility and reliability in handling complex systems.

How has WhatsApp benefited from Elixir's architecture?

WhatsApp, leveraging Elixir's underlying Erlang architecture, efficiently managed services for hundreds of millions of users with minimal engineering resources, showcasing Elixir's high performance and reliability.

What are the challenges and considerations companies face when adopting Elixir?

Companies may face challenges such as finding skilled Elixir specialists due to its growing demand and ensuring that their infrastructure can leverage Elixir's concurrency and efficiency features effectively.

How can businesses learn more about implementing Elixir in their operations?

Businesses interested in Elixir can explore technical blogs, case studies, or contact expert Elixir development services for tailored advice and implementation strategies.