Network Programming in Elixir and Erlang

TCP, UDP, DNS, HTTP, and more: these are the network protocols that make up the fabric of the Internet. Erlang and Elixir are the perfect fit for building network-intensive applications—the BEAM's actor model perfectly mirrors the way nodes operate in a network.  Learn about networking and the power of the BEAM to write performant and reliable network applications. Create systems that are scalable, resilient, and efficient, thanks to language primitives and OTP. Take advantage of an ecosystem that has been solving network problems for more than thirty years. Learn about design patterns and common pitfalls for network applications on the BEAM.

From smart appliances to gigantic data centers, from phones to satellites, networks are the way computers talk to each other. Learn how to use network protocols, choose or design serialization protocols, and architect systems with servers and clients.

Start with the most widely-used protocol on the Internet: TCP. Build a chat server where multiple clients can chat in real time. Explore client-side TCP by building a client for Redis. Scale and harden server and client, thanks to features of the BEAM. Then dig into UDP, TCP's "looser" sibling. Code a system for reporting metrics capable of rivaling hardened software like StatsD. Learn about DNS, which powers domain resolution for the Internet. Next, secure your TCP traffic with TLS. Lastly, explore HTTP, the protocol that even your microwave could be using. Build a JSON API, client, and server. Learn the differences between HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2, and add real-time features via WebSockets.

The BEAM was built for networks and has been honed for more than three decades. It's the perfect fit. Leverage years of real-world experience building network-intensive applications from a member of the Elixir core team, and become an expert at network programming in Elixir and Erlang.

What You Need:

You'll need a computer running a standard distribution of Erlang/OTP, and optionally Elixir. Any recent version of OTP (22 or later) and Elixir (1.11 or later) is fine. For some parts of the book, you'll also need a working Internet connection.

Andrea Leopardi is a software engineer and architect with a passion for computers and systems. He loves writing and reading code, as well as teaching others how to write code and design systems. He's a member of the core team of the Elixir programming language. He's also a published author, frequent public speaker, and trainer.