Shows
Elixir WizardsLangChain: LLM Integration for Elixir Apps with Mark EricksenMark Ericksen, creator of the Elixir LangChain framework, joins the Elixir Wizards to talk about LLM integration in Elixir apps. He explains how LangChain abstracts away the quirks of different AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini) so you can work with any LLM in one more consistent API. We dig into core features like conversation chaining, tool execution, automatic retries, and production-grade fallback strategies.
Mark shares his experiences maintaining LangChain in a fast-moving AI world: how it shields developers from API drift, manages token budgets, and handles rate limits and outages. He also reveals test...2025-06-1238 min
Elixir WizardsBlue Heron: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for Elixir & Nerves with Connor RigbyConnor Rigby joins the Elixir Wizards to talk about Blue Heron BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) support for Elixir apps. Blue Heron implements the BLE specs in pure Elixir, leveraging binary pattern matching and concurrent message processing to handle Bluetooth protocols. Unlike most solutions that require C ports or NIFs, Blue Heron runs entirely in user space, so it works seamlessly in both Nerves-based embedded projects and (eventually) desktop Elixir applications.
We discuss how Nerves development differs from building Phoenix apps. Connor shares challenges he's experienced with hardware compatibility, where some chips only partially implement the spec, and...2025-06-0546 min
Elixir WizardsZigler: Zig NIFs for Elixir with Isaac YonemotoIn the Season 14 premiere, hosts Dan Ivovich and Sundi Myint chat with Isaac Yonemoto, creator of the Zigler library, to explore how Zigler brings Zig’s performance and safety to Elixir through Native Implemented Functions (NIFs). Isaac walks through the core design of Zigler and how it auto-generates the Elixir-to-Zig bridge, enforces type safety, and exposes multiple execution modes (normal, dirty, threaded). The conversation covers real-world applications, from SIMD-powered token selection for LLM hardware acceleration to OTP-style fault tolerance in low-level code.
Isaac shares his own journey: stepping back from professional software work to launch a biotech st...2025-05-2943 min
Elixir WizardsBuilding an Open Vehicle Control System using Elixir and Nerves with Marc, Thibault, and LoïcFor the Season 13 finale, Elixir Wizards Dan and Charles are joined by Spin42 Engineers Marc Lainez, Thibault Poncelet, and Loïc Vigneron to discuss their work retrofitting a 2007 VW Polo and creating an Open Vehicle Control System (OVCS). Using Elixir, Nerves, and Raspberry Pis, the team is reimagining vehicle technology to extend the lifespan of older cars and reduce waste—all while making the process approachable and open source.
The Spin42 team shares the technical details behind OVCS and how they use Elixir and Nerves to interact with the CAN bus and build a Vehicle Management System (VMS...2024-12-2654 min
Elixir WizardsTelemetry & Observability for Elixir Apps at Cars.com with Zack Kayser & Ethan GundersonZack Kayser and Ethan Gunderson, Software Engineers at Cars Commerce, join the Elixir Wizards to share their expertise on telemetry and observability in large-scale systems. Drawing from their experience at Cars.com—a platform handling high traffic and concurrent users—they discuss the technical and organizational challenges of scaling applications, managing microservices, and implementing effective observability practices.
The conversation highlights the pivotal role observability plays in diagnosing incidents, anticipating system behavior, and asking unplanned questions of a system. Zack and Ethan explore tracing, spans, and the unique challenges introduced by LiveView deployments and WebSocket connections.
They...2024-12-1242 min
Elixir WizardsCreating the Castmagic AI-Powered Content Workflow Platform with Justin TormeyJustin Tormey, co-founder of Castmagic, joins the Elixir Wizards to discuss building an AI-powered content creation app. Castmagic repurposes audio and video into social media posts, blog articles, newsletters, and more. The tech stack leverages OpenAI and Anthropic LLMs with Elixir as the coordination layer and Phoenix LiveView powering the front end.
Justin dives into the technical details of Castmagic, including the integration of JavaScript libraries like ProseMirror and TipTap through LiveSvelte, as well as enabling real-time collaboration with CRDTs and YDoc. He shares the benefits and challenges of using Elixir for rapid development, as well as...2024-11-2835 min
Elixir WizardsCreating the WebAuthn Components Library for Phoenix LiveView Apps with Owen BickfordToday on Elixir Wizards, Owen Bickford, fellow Wizard and creator of the WebauthnComponents library, joins us to talk about building passwordless authentication for Phoenix LiveView applications. Owen walks us through the evolution of authentication—touching on everything from plain text passwords to multi-factor setups—and explains the security flaws and user experience issues each method presents. He describes passkeys, a solution based on the WebAuthn API, which improves security and ease of use.
The conversation covers cross-device support for passkeys, the role of password managers in keeping credentials synced, and ideas for enhancing WebauthnComponents, like supporting multiple pass...2024-11-1457 min
Elixir WizardsCreating VintageCell: Nerves, PCBs, and GenStateMachine with Bryan GreenToday on Elixir Wizards, Bryan Green shares how he transformed a vintage 1930s rotary phone into a fully functional cell phone using Elixir, Nerves, and a mix of hardware components.
Bryan shares the highs and lows of his project, from decoding rotary dial clicks to troubleshooting hardware issues with LED outputs. He explains why Nerves was the perfect fit for this project, offering SSH access, over-the-air updates, and remote debugging. You’ll also hear how Elixir’s concurrency model helped him manage hardware inputs and outputs efficiently using GenStateMachine and Genservers.
Elixir and Nerves really shin...2024-10-2428 min
Elixir Wizards"The Past is Your Teacher" with Alicia Brindisi and Bri LaVorgnaIt’s the season finale of Elixir Wizards Office Hours! SmartLogic’s Project Manager Alicia Brindisi and VP of Delivery Bri LaVorgna join host Dan to delve into the agile ceremony of retrospectives. They explore the vital role of retrospectives in Agile project management and unveil practical strategies for enhancing their effectiveness.
Alicia and Bri break down the elements of a successful retrospective. They cover everything from meticulous preparation to facilitation techniques, and how to choose the best format for fostering open dialogue and actionable results. Learn how to navigate common obstacles and guide discussions toward productive, solu...2024-05-3032 min
Elixir Wizards"From Inspiration to Execution" with Camber GriffinIn Episode 9 of Elixir Wizards Office Hours, we dive into task writing and backlog grooming, transforming ideas from the discovery phase into actionable tickets. Join SmartLogic Developer Camber Griffin and hosts Dan Ivovich and Owen Bickford as they explore the intricacies of task writing, ticket grooming, estimation, and backlog management in the software development lifecycle.
They emphasize crafting clear, detailed tickets that act as comprehensive guides for development teams. A well-written ticket does more than outline what needs to be built—it facilitates collaboration by including entry points, linking to essential documentation, defining acceptance criteria, detailing QA st...2024-05-1645 min
Elixir Wizards"DevOps: From Code to Cloud" with Dan IvovichIn Elixir Wizards Office Hours Episode 8, hosts Sundi Myint and Owen Bickford lead an engaging Q&A session with co-host Dan Ivovich, diving deep into the nuances of DevOps. Drawing from his extensive experience, Dan navigates topics from the early days before Docker to managing diverse polyglot environments and optimizing observability.
This episode offers insights for developers of all levels looking to sharpen their DevOps skills. Explore the realms of Docker, containerization, DevOps workflows, and the deployment intricacies of Elixir applications.
Key topics discussed in this episode:
Understanding DevOps and starting points for beginners
...2024-05-0943 min
Elixir Wizards"Saga of a Gnarly Report" with Owen and DanIn today's episode, Elixir Wizards Owen and Dan delve into the complexities of building advanced reporting features within software applications. They share personal insights and challenges encountered while developing reporting solutions for user-generated data, leveraging both Elixir/Phoenix and Ruby on Rails.
The discussion zeroes in on crucial data modeling and architectural decisions that enhance reporting efficiency and flexibility. Owen and Dan explore tactics like materialized views, event sourcing, and database triggers to optimize data handling while being mindful of UX elements like progress indicators and background job management.
They share insights on leveraging the...2024-04-1850 min
Elixir Wizards"You've Got a Job to Do" with Joel MeadorToday on Elixir Wizards Office Hours, SmartLogic Engineer Joel Meador joins Dan Ivovich to discuss all things background jobs.
The behind-the-scenes heroes of app performance and scalability, background jobs take center stage as we dissect their role in optimizing user experience and managing heavy-lifting tasks away from the main application flow. From syncing with external systems to processing large datasets, background jobs are pivotal to successful application management.
Dan and Joel share their perspectives on monitoring, debugging, and securing background jobs, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach to these hidden workflows.
Key...2024-04-0444 min
Elixir WizardsStatic Code Analysis in Elixir vs. Ruby with René Föhring & Marc-André LafortuneIn this episode of Elixir Wizards, hosts Owen and Dan are joined by René Föhring, creator of Credo for Elixir, and Marc-André LaFortune, head maintainer of the RuboCop AST library for Ruby. They compare static code analysis in Ruby versus Elixir.
The conversation explores the intricacies and challenges inherent in static code analysis across object-oriented and functional programming paradigms, highlighting the unique characteristics of both Ruby and Elixir. Key topics of discussion include the ways these tools can enhance coding styles and empower developers, the delicate balance between providing guidance and enforcing rules, and the evolving fut...2023-12-1446 min
Elixir WizardsWeb Development Frameworks: Elixir and Phoenix vs. Ruby on Rails with Owen Bickford & Dan IvovichOn today’s episode, Elixir Wizards Owen Bickford and Dan Ivovich compare notes on building web applications with Elixir and the Phoenix Framework versus Ruby on Rails. They discuss the history of both frameworks, key differences in architecture and approach, and deciding which programming language to use when starting a project.
Both Phoenix and Rails are robust frameworks that enable developers to build high-quality web apps—Phoenix leverages functional programming in Elixir and Erlang’s networking for real-time communication. Rails follows object-oriented principles and has a vast ecosystem of plug-ins. For data-heavy CRUD apps, Phoenix's immutable data pipeli...2023-12-0741 min
Elixir WizardsGarbage Collection in Erlang vs JVM/Akka with Manuel Rubio & Dan PlyukhinToday on Elixir Wizards, Manuel Rubio, author of Erlang/OTP: A Concurrent World and Dan Plyukhin, creator of the UIGC Actor Garbage Collector for Akka, join host Dan Ivovich to compare notes on garbage collection in actor models.
The discussion digs into the similarities and differences of actor-based garbage collection in Erlang and Akka and introduces Dan's research on how to perform garbage collection in a distributed actor system.
Topics discussed:
Akka is akin to Erlang actors for the JVM using Scala, with similar principles like supervision trees, messages, and clustering
Erlang uses generational...2023-11-3044 min
Elixir WizardsMachine Learning in Elixir vs. Python, SQL, and Matlab with Katelynn Burns & Alexis CarpenterIn this episode of Elixir Wizards, Katelynn Burns, software engineer at LaunchScout, and Alexis Carpenter, senior data scientist at cars.com, join Host Dan Ivovich to discuss machine learning with Elixir, Python, SQL, and MATLAB. They compare notes on available tools, preprocessing, working with pre-trained models, and training models for specific jobs.
The discussion inspires collaboration and learning across communities while revealing the foundational aspects of ML, such as understanding data and asking the right questions to solve problems effectively.
Topics discussed:
Using pre-trained models in Bumblebee for Elixir projects
Training models using Python...2023-11-2331 min
Elixir WizardsSeason 11 Kickoff: The Hosts Discuss Branching Out from Elixir to Compare NotesHosts Dan Ivovich, Owen Bickford, and Sundi Myint kick off the 11th season of the Elixir Wizards podcast. This season’s theme is “Branching Out from Elixir,” which expands the conversation to compare notes with experts from other communities; they discuss their experiences with other languages like JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, C#, Go, and Dart before and after learning Elixir.
This season's conversations will illuminate how problems are solved in different languages vs. Elixir; upcoming episode topics teased include education, data processing, deployment strategies, and garbage collection; the hosts express excitement for conversations analyzing similarities and differences betwee...2023-10-1932 min
Elixir WizardsJosé Valim, Guillaume Duboc, and Giuseppe Castagna on the Future of Types in ElixirIt’s the Season 10 finale of the Elixir Wizards podcast! José Valim, Guillaume Duboc, and Giuseppe Castagna join Wizards Owen Bickford and Dan Ivovich to dive into the prospect of types in the Elixir programming language! They break down their research on set-theoretical typing and highlight their goal of creating a type system that supports as many Elixir idioms as possible while balancing simplicity and pragmatism.
José, Guillaume, and Giuseppe talk about what initially sparked this project, the challenges in bringing types to Elixir, and the benefits that the Elixir community can expect from this exciting work. Guil...2023-06-0848 min
Elixir WizardsMat Trudel on the Future of Phoenix and Web TransportsIn this episode of Elixir Wizards, Owen and Dan talk to Mat Trudel, Phoenix contributor and creator of the Bandit Web Server, about the future of Phoenix, web transports, and HTTP/3. Mat explains the challenges and benefits of implementing HTTP/3 support in Phoenix.
Mat provides in-depth insights into the evolution of web protocols and encourages developers to continue pushing the boundaries of web development and to contribute to the growth of the open-source community.
Main topics discussed in this episode:
The evolution of web protocols and how HTTP/3 is changing the landscape
The challenges...2023-04-2748 min
Elixir WizardsMike Waud and Tony Winn on the Future of Elixir on the GridElixir Wizards Owen Bickford and Dan Ivovich are joined by Mike Waud, Senior Software Engineer at SparkMeter, and Tony Winn, Lead Software Architect at Generac, to discuss the future of the BEAM in the electric grid, how their companies use Elixir, and the challenges they face in implementing cutting-edge technologies in an environment with a mix of old and new systems.
Both guests have backgrounds in various programming languages before turning to Elixir for its functional programming capabilities, concurrency, and reliability. Elixir's portability allows it to be used in various environments, from cloud-based systems to more conservative...2023-04-2042 min
Elixir WizardsSeason 10 Kickoff: The Hosts Discuss The Future of ElixirIt’s the season 10 premiere of the Elixir Wizards podcast! Sundi Myint, Owen Bickford, and Dan Ivovich kick off the season with a spirited conversation about what they hope to see in the future of the Elixir programming language, experiences that inform their predictions, and excitement for this season’s lineup of guests.
They touch on how Elixir has evolved in the previous ten years and how the range of use cases has expanded beyond web development.
The hosts introduce the season 10 theme: The Next Ten Years of Elixir
Dan explains his initial hesitation and how he w...2023-03-2341 min
Elixir WizardsThat's a Wrap: Season 9 Finale with Sundi, Bilal, Owen & Dan!Elixir Wizards Season 9 is coming to an end! In the season finale, hosts Sundi, Bilal, Owen, and Dan reflect on the guests and highlights that made this season unforgettable. We thank you for joining us as we parsed the particulars and can't wait to reconnect next season for more insightful conversations!
*Please remember to take our LISTENER SURVEY so we can come back bigger and better for Season 10 – Coming in early 2023!! *
SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/
SmartLogic Twitter — https://twitter.com/smartlogic2022-12-2936 min
Elixir WizardsChris Miller on Crafting a Programming LanguageToday on Elixir Wizards, Chris Miller, software engineer at Corvus Insurance, joins us again for an in-depth discussion on the different approaches to programming. We dive into the conception and origin of new languages and how they evolve to solve new problems over time.
*Please remember to take our LISTENER SURVEY so we can come back bigger and better for Season 10 – Coming in early 2023!! *
Key Points From This Episode:
The hosts catch up with Chris and learn a bit about Corvus Insurance
What excites Chris about programming language and new ways of thinking
Chris' fa...2022-12-1542 min
Elixir WizardsFrank Hunleth and Joe Martin on the Particulars of NervesToday on Elixir Wizards, we speak with two great minds in the Elixir community: Frank Hunleth from SmartRent and Joe Martin from Company Six. Join us to parse the particulars of Nerves, from production and terminology, to stacks, customization, and how they function.
*Please remember to take our LISTENER SURVEY so we can come back bigger and better for Season 10 – Coming in early 2023!! *
Key Points From This Episode:
How both Frank & Joe became interested in Elixir
We learn what nerves is currently being used for in production
How Nerves is being utilized within farming an...2022-12-0845 min
Elixir WizardsJason Stiebs on LiveView at RokkinCatToday we welcome Jason Stiebs to the podcast to talk about all things LiveView and how he was originally wrong about LiveView in the beginning. Jason is the founder at Rokkincat, and a core contributor to Phoenix. Jason loves finding solutions to complex problems and mentoring young engineers. Tune in today to learn more about LiveView from today’s special guest, Jason Stiebs!
Key Points From This Episode:
A brief breakdown of today’s topic and introduction to our special guest, Jason Stiebs
A summary of Jason’s talk at ElixirConf on why he initially was wrong...2022-10-2749 min
Elixir WizardsLooking back on Season 8 with Sundi, Owen & DanIt’s the season finale show! Can you believe it? Join us this week as Sundi, Owen, and Dan take a look back at this season of Elixir Wizards! You’ll hear their discussion about favorite moments over the season and learn about this season’s theme and its origin, and what they learned throughout the season. Enjoy and we hope to see you back for Season 9!
Key Points From This Episode:
Reflection on the guests experiences with all different types of language
How the team landed on the theme of Elixir in a Polygl...2022-06-2938 min
Elixir WizardsNathan Retta on Engineering in Android at DoorDashThis week on Elixir Wizards we’re joined by Nathan Retta, Senior Software Engineer from Android at DoorDash. We learn about Nathan’s background; his experience having a degree in Chemical Engineering and working in Oil and Gas for 6 years. Nathan then wrote an Android app in 2016 and soon after became a mobile developer -- the rest is history. He is currently based in Denver, Colorado, and our host Owen has met him prior through the Denver Elixir virtual meet up.
Join us today for this conversation between Owen, Dan and Nathan as we learn about Nathan’s expe...2022-06-2329 min
Elixir WizardsJessica Kerr on Systems Thinking for DevelopersA superpower of software development is teaching our code to teach us what’s happening. This is observability, and it’s why Jessica Kerr works at Honeycomb, where she is a Developer Advocate. After twenty years as a developer, Jess sees software as a significant force in the world. As a symmathecist in the medium of code, she views development teams as learning systems made of both people and software. She believes that, if we allow the software to teach us, it becomes a better teammate and, if this process makes us into systems thinkers, we can be better peop...2022-05-2643 min
Elixir WizardsDevon Estes on The Power of Functional ProgrammingToday’s guest is Devon Estes, who leads the third-party integration team at Remote, a company that uses technology to make it easier for other companies to hire remote employees (not contractors, actual employees) from over 100 countries across the world. Prior to working at Remote (which he loves, as you'll hear today), Devon was a freelancer and avid public speaker, and some of his talks from many years ago are still relevant today. In this conversation, Devon explains why functional programming is easier to use than any other programming type, and how the only thing holding you back from be...2022-04-2148 min
Elixir WizardsBrooklyn Zelenka and The Exciting World of Edge ComputingWe are very excited to welcome Brooklyn Zelenka back to the podcast to talk about her work at Fission and the ever-expanding frontier of edge computing! Brooklyn is a co-founder and CTO at Fission and she gives us some insight into the focus of the company's applied research. We hear from our guest about the projects she has been most excited about recently and she even talks about her newfound passion for fermentation! She does a great job of explaining why edge computing is potentially so revolutionary and some of the hurdles that are yet to be overcome on...2022-01-1346 min
Elixir WizardsSeason Four LaunchisodeAs our first trilogy comes to a close, and we embark on the next one, we’re doing what all great trilogies do: Upending everything that made the initial one great and starting afresh. We have taken on board some excellent listener feedback to keep this the highest quality Elixir related podcast. So, for this launchisode, rather than doing a trailer, we are diving in headfirst with a full episode on system and application architecture, this season’s theme, with Justus Eapen, Dan Ivovich, and Eric Oestrich.
We kick off the show by getting to know Dan and...2020-05-141h 09
Elixir WizardsDan Ivovich from SmartLogic on Hiring and TrainingOn today's show, we are joined by Dan Ivovich from our team here at SmartLogic! Dan is the Director of Development Operations and has already been a guest and cohost a few times on the show. Today we are talking about hiring and training and his experience with these tasks at the company and especially concerning Elixir. We discuss the challenges Dan has faced in recruiting and the ways in which SmartLogic has lined up resumes and possible candidates through events and meetups. Dan explains some of the difficulties that are common for programmers transitioning into Elixir and how...2020-01-0922 min
Elixir WizardsShanti Chellaram on Pri-Queue and raft_erl – Elixir InternalsToday on the show we welcome Shanti Chellaram to talk about a couple of Erlang libraries she has created! We hear from her about Pri-Queue and raft_erl, and her motivation behind making them and some of the things we wishes she did differently! Shanti shares some of her background, early coding experiences, affinity for open source and her current work situation. From there we look at Pri-Queue, the problem it addresses and what a priority queue is. A highlight of the show is Shanti giving the best explanation of a bootstrapped skew binomial heap we have heard before...2019-09-0528 min
Elixir WizardsElixir in Production RecapWith this season over, we bring Dan Ivovich back to talk about what we learned.
Dan Ivovich - Director of Development Operations @ SmartLogic
00:43 - Why are you using Elixir in production?
01:20 - Advantages / disadvantages of Elixir
02:38 - How do you deploy?
03:48 - Zero downtime deploys
05:40 - Clustering
06:56 - Elixir App performance
09:00 - Background task processing
10:36 - Common Libraries
14:40 - 3rd Party Services
16:16 - Do you have a story where Elixir saved the day in production?
17:56 - OTP features
18:31 - Tip to developers
...2019-04-1820 min
Elixir WizardsDan Ivovich from SmartLogic - Elixir in ProductionWe talk with developers from the team here at SmartLogic about our current practices on deploying Elixir and Phoenix in production.
Dan Ivovich - Director of Development Operations @ SmartLogic
Learn more about how SmartLogic uses Phoenix and Elixir.
00:00 - Fade In
00:30 - Introductions to Eric, Dan and SmartLogic
Dan Ivovich - Director of Development Operations @ SmartLogic
Eric Oestrich - Developer, Elixir Lead @ SmartLogic
Justus Eapen - Full stack developer @ SmartLogic
Introduced to Elixir by an old colleague.
1:20 - What Elixir projects...2019-02-2828 min