Elixir Wizards is an interview-format podcast, focused on engineers who use the Elixir programming language. Initially launched in early 2019, each season focuses on a specific topic or topics, with each interview focusing on the guest's experience and opinions on the topic. Elixir Wizards is hosted by Eric Oestrich and Sundi Myint of SmartLogic, a dev shop that’s been building custom software since 2005 and running Elixir applications in production since 2015. Learn more about how SmartLogic uses Phoenix and Elixir. (https://smartlogic.io/phoenix-and-elixir?utm_source=podcast)
Steve Bussey on Real-Time Applications
Real-time applications come with real challenges—persistent connections, multi-server deployment, and strict performance requirements are just a few. Our guest today is Steve Bussey, a software architect at SalesLoft and author of the new book, Real-Time Phoenix: Build Highly Scalable Systems with Channels. In this episode, Steve shares with us what he has written on real-time Elixir applications and how he has led development in the field. We discuss how Steve found Elixir, what system and application architecture means to him, and what he considers the differences between architecting and designing a system. Steve gives us his opinions on domain-driven design, umbrella apps, and Phoenix LiveView, and shares some of his personal processes when working on new real-time features, as well as what he believes are the toughest parts of developing and rolling out real-time applications. Finally, we talk about testing, security, and performance issues, and Steve sells us on his book. Tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- What Steve’s favorite pair of shoes is and how he got into sneakers.
- Where Steve is from and how long he has been doing programming.
- What system and application architecture means to Steve.
- The difference between architecting and designing a system.
- Steve’s opinions on domain-driven design.
- Eric’s opinion on umbrella apps and Steve’s response.
- Where Steve starts when he works on a new real-time feature.
- Steve’s personal and professional pre-code design processes.
- The toughest parts of developing and rolling out real-time applications.
- Testing real-time features and Steve’s thoughts on Phoenix LiveView.
- How Steve incorporates security into the architecture when designing applications.
- Multi-tenant applications and how Steve deals with performance issues.
- Deployment considerations when going into production with a real-time application.
- Steve sells us on his book and gives his final plugs and asks for the audience.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Steve Bussey on Twitter – https://twitter.com/YOOOODAAAA
Steven Bussey’s Website – https://stevenbussey.com/
Real-Time Phoenix on Pragmatic Bookshelf – https://pragprog.com/book/sbsockets/real-time-phoenix
SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/
Justus Eapen on Twitter — https://twitter.com/justuseapen
Eric Oestrich — https://oestrich.org/
Eric Oestrich on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ericoestrich
Eric Oestrich on GitHub — https://github.com/oestrich
Special Guest: Steve Bussey.