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)
Bonus Toddcast & Lonestar Preview
This week we're delighted to share a special format bonus episode!
We are joined by guest co-host Todd Resudek as well as a number of guests who each share a little bit about what they're working on and in many cases their upcoming presentations at Lonestar Elixir.
Special episode guests:
- Angel Jose, Senior Platform Engineer at Cars.com
- Dave Lucia, VP of Engineering at SimpleBet
- Greg Mefford, Senior Back-End Engineer at Bleacher Report
- Melvin Cedeno, Elixir Developer at SplitGyms
- Zach Thomas, API Developer at Blinker
Most of our guests weigh in about their upcoming presentations at the event and we also get to chat about a few near and dear topics with our rotating cast. We hear about where they are working, their experiences with Elixir and their thoughts on education and company culture. It's an unusual episode but one we are so glad to have had the chance to make! We also find time to touch on our focus for the next season of the podcast, which is very exciting for all of us over here at the show. Remember to stay plugged in for more on Lonestar Elixir and attend if you can!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Some thoughts on LiveView and its adoption by new developers.
- Angel's work at Cars and how they are using Elixir and LiveView to rewrite everything.
- Chatbots and the immediate benefits of using Elixir to rewrite them.
- The elevator pitch on SimpleBet and the tech stack, skillset and ecosystem of the company.
- Why Dave and his team have moved away from Rust!
- A quick tease of what to expect for Season 4 of the podcast: Architecture of Applications!
- How Bleacher Report is using Elixir to build the 'third space' for sports fans.
- Team building and expansion at Bleacher Report and the stages of scaling.
- A sneak preview of Greg's upcoming talk at Lonestar!
- How Greg got started with Nerves and why it has a special place in his heart.
- The theme of Melvin's talk at Lonestar; untraditional routes and emotions in tech.
- Considering the usefulness of boot camps, the value of ISAs and CS programs.
- Zach's background in Elixir and his current work at Blinker with the language.
- Experiences at Turing and in liberal arts during college.
- Zach's Lonestar talk elevator pitch: 'Getting the Frog out of the Well'.
- The allegory of the cave, 'what is water' and how this differs from Zach's idea.
- Why don't we like statically typed things as much as we should?
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/
Lonestar Elixir 2020 — https://lonestarelixir.com/
Todd Resudek — https://medium.com/@toddresudek
Todd Resudek on Twitter — https://twitter.com/sprsmpl
Angel Jose — https://github.com/ajose01
Dave Lucia — https://github.com/davydog187
Greg Mefford — https://github.com/GregMefford/blinkchain
Melvin Cedeno — https://gist.github.com/normanrs/eeb5cc91cb10eeb7d3e43168396efb27
Zack Thomas — https://github.com/zeam-vm/pelemay
Sophie DeBenedetto — http://sophiedebenedetto.nyc/
LiveView — https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix_live_view/Phoenix.LiveView.html
ElixirConf — https://elixirconf.com/events
Cars — https://www.cars.com/
SimpleBet — https://www.simplebet.io/
Full Stack Developer Horse Drawing Meme — https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1624070-unfinished-horse-drawing
Conway's Law — https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/applying-conways-law-improve-your-software-development
ElixirConf 2019 - Lighting Talk - Are There Benefits Of Crying In Tech — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW5Plkroyxk
TRON — https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tron
Smart Mirror Blog Post — https://medium.com/@toddresudek/building-a-smart-mirror-with-phoenix-liveview-18193ee6438f
Bleacher Report — https://bleacherreport.com/
Team Topologies — https://teamtopologies.com/
Nerves — https://nerves-project.org/
Turing — https://turing.io/
CIRR — https://cirr.org/
David Heinemeier Hansson — https://dhh.dk/
Blinker — https://www.blinker.com/
David Foster Wallace — http://www.davidfosterwallacebooks.com/
Gödel, Escher, Bach — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24113.G_del_Escher_Bach
Special Guests: Angel Jose, Dave Lucia, Greg Mefford, Melvin Cedeno, Todd Resudek, and Zach Thomas.