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State of Elixir 2023 Survey

State of Elixir 2023

Comprehensive Community Survey Results

392
Participants
2023
Survey Year
27
Questions

About the Survey

Elixir is exceptional. As of 2023, it's considered one of the most loved and pleasant to use programming languages, evolving through great tooling like Phoenix LiveView, Nx, and Livebook. However, it still needs wider adoption to gain more popularity.

Curiosum mission is to expose more programmers and decision-makers to this fantastic technology. To make it happen, we need insights into the challenges faced by the Elixir community, and suggestions for its future development.

To gather diverse data, we decided to organize our first Elixir survey. Our goal is to conduct it annually, making it better every year. Nearly 400 individuals participated in this edition, each responding to 27 questions.

We appreciate your participation and hope you find the results interesting.

1. What is your occupation?

392 out of 392 answered

Developer311 resp. 79.3%
CTO39 resp. 9.9%
CEO14 resp. 3.6%
Student9 resp. 2.3%
Project Manager3 resp. 0.8%
Other16 resp. 4.1%

Summary

Most of the survey participants are developers. If we take into account the main responses as well as the ones from the 'Other' section, almost 15% of respondents are C-level executives, and heads of engineering. A few respondents are also engaged in recruitment, quality assurance and teaching roles.

Overall, the results are rather as we expected, thefore most of the answers are coming from people involved in Elixir programming on a daily basis.

2. How long have you been using Elixir?

392 out of 392 answered

1-3 years122 resp. 31.1%
More than 5 years114 resp. 29.1%
3-5 years100 resp. 25.5%
Less than 1 year56 resp. 14.3%

Summary

Interestingly, the data shows a balanced distribution across all categories except for 'Less than a year'. Approximately 45% of the respondents are either new (Less than a year of experience) or fairly new (1-3 years of experience) to Elixir, indicating a positive trend.

To gather more definitive data on this crucial topic, we plan to include additional questions in the upcoming year's survey.

3. How would you rate your Elixir knowledge?

392 out of 392 answered

6.8 Average rating
1%4resp.
1
2%8resp.
2
3.1%12resp.
3
7.7%30resp.
4
5.9%23resp.
5
14.8%58resp.
6
24.7%97resp.
7
26.3%103resp.
8
10.5%41resp.
9
4.1%16resp.
10

Summary

A significant number of respondents self-assessed their proficiency in Elixir as high. This trend might suggest that Elixir is relatively easy to learn, or it could reflect a common habit among people to rate their skills highly. From our experience, the general skill level in the market is quite good, yet many, including senior professionals, tend to face difficulties with OTP-related tasks.

4. Why have you decided to adapt Elixir in your projects?

392 out of 392 answered

Functional Programming Paradigm288 resp. 73.5%
Productivity284 resp. 72.4%
Concurrency276 resp. 70.4%
Fault Tolerance248 resp. 63.3%
Scalability219 resp. 55.9%
Flexibility146 resp. 37.2%
Other34 resp. 8.7%

Summary

The main factors for adopting Elixir are its functional paradigm, efficiency, and support for concurrency. While scalability is often mentioned as a benefit of Elixir, it doesn't score as highly in the survey findings.

For the additional reasons given, many respondents pointed to the Phoenix Framework, Phoenix Live View, the enjoyable experience of working with the language, and its introduction at their place of work as incentives for using Elixir.

5. Have you integrated Elixir with other programming languages? (for example, using NIFs) If so, which ones?

392 out of 392 answered

None209 resp. 53.3%
JavaScript77 resp. 19.6%
Rust75 resp. 19.1%
Python39 resp. 9.9%
C/C++38 resp. 9.7%
Ruby15 resp. 3.8%
Java9 resp. 2.3%
Go6 resp. 1.5%
Other18 resp. 4.6%

Summary

Rust is likely the leading language to be combined with Elixir through NIFs. Although JavaScript topped the responses, it's presumed that its use is mainly for frontend purposes.

In the 'Other' section, Zig, PHP, Elm, and Perl emerged as the most commonly mentioned languages.

6. Which hosting platform do you use?

392 out of 392 answered

AWS192 resp. 49%
Fly.io142 resp. 36.2%
Google Cloud Platform54 resp. 13.8%
Gigalixir38 resp. 9.7%
Hetzner38 resp. 9.7%
Heroku31 resp. 7.9%
Digital Ocean20 resp. 5.1%
Render16 resp. 4%
Microsoft Azure15 resp. 3.8%
Other68 resp. 17.3%

Summary

AWS and Fly.io emerge as the top choices for hosting, with Fly.io's decision to include Phoenix Framework creator Chris McCord on their team proving beneficial. Despite being a platform dedicated to Elixir, Gigalixir is used by only 10% of respondents.

Google and Microsoft are not very popular in the Elixir community, with Microsoft being notably less used. However, with Microsoft's recent heavy investment in AI infrastructure, it will be interesting to see if this leads to an increased adoption of their platform by Elixir users.

In the custom answers category, few people opt for hosting Elixir apps on self-hosted infrastructure.

7. Which code editor do you use?

392 out of 392 answered

Visual Studio Code260 resp. 66.3%
Vim133 resp. 33.9%
Emacs38 resp. 9.7%
IntelliJ31 resp. 7.9%
Sublime13 resp. 3.3%
Cursor0 resp. 0%
Other41 resp. 10.5%

Summary

In the never-ending war between Vim and Emacs, Elixir devs vote in favor of Vim! This is, however, nothing in comparison to the popularity of Visual Studio Code, which got 20% more than both of these combined.

Interesting insights are also being revealed from custom responses. NeoVim and Zed received 13 responses, whereas Helix accounted for 8.

8. How do you find the performance of Elixir in your production environment?

392 out of 392 answered

8.6 Average rating
0.3%1resp.
1
0.5%2resp.
2
1%4resp.
3
0.3%1resp.
4
2.6%10resp.
5
2%8resp.
6
9.2%36resp.
7
26.3%103resp.
8
25.5%100resp.
9
32.4%127resp.
10

Summary

Responders' votes are clear in this case. The vast majority of the Elixir community is very much satisfied with the performance of Elixir in production, giving an 8.6 average score out of 10.

9. Have you faced any scalability issues with Elixir?

392 out of 392 answered

Yes52 resp. 13.3%
No340 resp. 86.7%

Summary

The scalability factor is frequently cited as a motivation for using Elixir. Consequently, we inquired with the Elixir community about any challenges encountered when scaling Elixir applications. The responses indicate that Elixir scales effectively. However, it's important to consider that some participants in this survey may not have yet experienced scaling to a significant extent.

10. How would you rate the fault tolerance and reliability of Elixir applications in production?

392 out of 392 answered

8.9 Average rating
0.3%1resp.
1
0%0resp.
2
0.5%2resp.
3
0.5%2resp.
4
1.8%7resp.
5
2%8resp.
6
6.1%24resp.
7
20.7%81resp.
8
28.3%111resp.
9
39.8%156resp.
10

Summary

While certain survey participants may not have reached a large scale in their systems yet (a factor that could impact the results of the previous question), testing for fault tolerance typically occurs early in application development. The voting pattern reflects this, with a rising score rate, and the majority of respondents express very high satisfaction with Elixir's fault tolerance capabilities.

11. Has adopting Elixir led to faster time-to-market for your products or features?

392 out of 392 answered

Yes304 resp. 77.6%
No88 resp. 22.4%

Summary

As expressed in the 'Why have you decided to adapt Elixir in your projects?' question, Elixir is valued for its productivity. This particular characteristic greatly influences the time-to-market, and the consensus among survey respondents is that Elixir effectively aids in shortening this timeframe.

12. Have you previously used another programming language for the tasks you now handle with Elixir? If so, which one(s)?

392 out of 392 answered

JavaScript205 resp. 52.3%
Ruby174 resp. 44.4%
Python138 resp. 35.2%
Java79 resp. 20.2%
Go60 resp. 15.3%
PHP36 resp. 9.1%
C/C++34 resp. 8.7%
Rust20 resp. 5.1%
Other60 resp. 15.3%

Summary

JavaScript, holding the title of the world's most popular programming language, ranks at the top of this list. Ruby comes in second, a predictable placement given that many developers transitioned to Elixir for features they couldn't find in Ruby but discovered in Elixir.

In the custom response category, C# leads 16 with mentions, and Erlang with 7.

Our initial assumption was that Ruby would be the primary source of developers migrating to Elixir. However, it's intriguing to discover that the majority actually transition from JavaScript.

13. Are you using Phoenix Live View in production?

392 out of 392 answered

Yes246 resp. 62.8%
No146 resp. 37.2%

Summary

As of now, Phoenix LiveView is yet to release its version 1.0.0. Nonetheless, given its already prevalent use in production environments, as reported by the community and our own experience with clients, it posed an intriguing question for exploration.

It's interesting to find that over half of the respondents are already utilizing Phoenix LiveView in production. This makes it a real alternative to the more conventional component-based JavaScript frameworks.

14. How would you describe the ease of learning Elixir for developers?

392 out of 392 answered

Neutral182 resp. 46.4%
Easy131 resp. 33.4%
Hard54 resp. 13.8%
Very Easy18 resp. 4.6%
Very Hard7 resp. 1.8%

Summary

The simplicity of learning a programming language significantly influences its rapid adoption. A majority of the respondents, nearly 80%, perceive Elixir as either easy or neutral to learn.

Attention should be paid to the 'Neutral' responses within the community, with the objective being to shift this percentage towards 'Easy'. This can be accomplished through sharing knowledge and developing tutorials that are accessible to newcomers. Given the insight that most developers are transitioning from JavaScript, Ruby, and Python, the learning materials could be specifically designed to cater to these groups.

15. How often do you encounter breaking changes or issues when updating Elixir or its dependencies?

392 out of 392 answered

Rarely211 resp. 53.8%
Sometimes127 resp. 32.4%
Never29 resp. 7.4%
Often18 resp. 4.6%
Very often7 resp. 1.8%

Summary

It's reassuring to note that there isn't much need for commentary, as the community appears to rarely face any problems with Elixir dependencies. Kudos to the open-source contributors for their excellent work!

16. How would you rate the documentation and community support for Elixir?

392 out of 392 answered

8.5 Average rating
0.3%1resp.
0
0.3%1resp.
1
1%4resp.
2
1.3%5resp.
3
0.5%2resp.
4
1%4resp.
5
5.1%20resp.
6
10.7%42resp.
7
20.4%80resp.
8
27.3%107resp.
9
32.1%126resp.
10

Summary

The outcome aligns well with expectations. Elixir is frequently commended for its comprehensive documentation, and tools like LiveBook, although not directly used for Elixir's documentation, contribute significantly to enhancing this aspect as well.

17. Do you plan to continue using Elixir for future projects?

392 out of 392 answered

Yes381 resp. 97.2%
No11 resp. 2.8%

Summary

According to the Stack Overflow Survey Elixir has been among the top two most loved or admired programming languages (alongside Rust), and it did it for a good reason. The result of this question is pretty clear - the community loves Elixir, and they're here to stay.

18. What have been the biggest challenges in adopting and using Elixir in production?

392 out of 392 answered

Hiring181 resp. 46.2%
Integrations and missing open-source libraries172 resp. 43.9%
Ecosystem Maturity130 resp. 33.2%
Learning Curve113 resp. 28.8%
Documentation45 resp. 11.5%
None22 resp. 5.6%

Summary

The primary challenges encountered by the Elixir community are linked to its level of popularity. Issues such as recruitment, the range of open-source libraries, and the overall maturity of the ecosystem could benefit from an increase in the number of developers, decision-makers, and open-source contributors.

Additionally, several respondents point out difficulties related to the 'Learning Curve', suggesting that this might also contribute to some developers' reluctance to adopt this technology.

19. Does your organization use Elixir?

392 out of 392 answered

Yes310 resp. 79.1%
No70 resp. 17.9%
I don't know12 resp. 3.1%

Summary

Most of the respondents are either employed by or in charge of an organization that uses Elixir. For those who selected 'No' in their responses, the survey outcomes could be especially relevant, as they might be contemplating the integration of this technology.

20. Did your organization consider using Elixir?

82 out of 392 answered

No50 resp. 61%
I don't know21 resp. 25.6%
Yes11 resp. 13.4%

Summary

Since this question was addressed to those who chose 'No' in previous question, the response pool is smaller. Merely 13.4% have contemplated using Elixir, and among those who responded 'No' here, some might be seeking their initial employment opportunity in Elixir.

21. Why your organization decided not to adopt Elixir?

11 out of 392 answered

Lack of skills in the team8 resp. 72.7%
The cost of adoption2 resp. 18.2%
Lack of time1 resp. 9.1%
We chose another technology0 resp. 0%

Summary

The question was aimed at those who said 'No' in previous question. The most significant hurdles in adopting Elixir are identified as a lack of team expertise and financial implications.

22. How would you describe the size of the organization?

321 out of 392 answered

Startup154 resp. 48%
SME (Small Medium Enterprise)128 resp. 39.9%
Large enterprise35 resp. 10.9%
I don't have professional experience with Elixir4 resp. 1.2%

Summary

A majority of the respondents are employed in startups, which is encouraging as it indicates a growing preference for Elixir as the primary technology in these new businesses. As expected, 'Large enterprise' responses are the least common.

The implication of these findings is clear: there's a need to convince larger corporations to adopt Elixir, as the language's widespread adoption is heavily linked to its use and investments by major enterprises.

23. How has Elixir impacted the company's overall operational costs?

310 out of 392 answered

Without changes139 resp. 44.8%
Drop100 resp. 32.3%
Growth71 resp. 22.9%

Summary

While a number of participants noticed a decrease in operational expenses after switching to Elixir, there's also a significant portion who experienced an increase. This variation could be attributed to factors like hiring and salary expenses.

It's important to acknowledge that this observation isn't straightforward to quantify, so these responses could be considered more as subjective perceptions rather than concrete data.

24. Does Elixir give you a competitive advantage in your industry?

310 out of 392 answered

Yes249 resp. 80.3%
No61 resp. 19.7%

Summary

These responses reveal a fascinating insight: despite Elixir leading to increased or unchanged operational costs for many businesses, the vast majority of the community still perceives adopting Elixir as a competitive edge for their companies.

25. How hard was it to find developers skilled in Elixir for your team?

310 out of 392 answered

Hard116 resp. 37.4%
Neither hard or easy115 resp. 37.1%
Very hard51 resp. 16.5%
Without any problems21 resp. 6.8%
Easy7 resp. 2.3%

Summary

Unfortunately, hiring seems to be a very painful experience for companies building Elixir teams. From our perspective, it comes down to two things - the shortage of talent in IT in recent years and Elixir being a less popular technology.

Hiring, though, is a process, and just like you need to market products or services, there is also a need to build a strong brand around given technology to attract the best talents. Some of the companies, leverage other forms of team-building methods, such as freelancing or outsourcing, which could be additionally beneficial for companies struggling to hire the best talents.

26. How active is your company in the Elixir community (e.g., open-source contributions, attending conferences)?

310 out of 392 answered

Inactive79 resp. 25.5%
Neither active nor inactive73 resp. 23.5%
Slightly inactive70 resp. 22.6%
Active61 resp. 19.7%
Very active27 resp. 8.7%

Summary

Most of the companies are not very active in the Elixir community. That correlates very well with answers to previous questions about hiring. If a company wants to attract the best talents and contribute to Elxir's popularity, it should consider starting more initiatives within the community.

27. Where are you from?

310 out of 392 answered

United States of America68 resp. 21.9%
Brazil32 resp. 10.3%
Poland29 resp. 9.4%
Germany17 resp. 5.5%
Canada11 resp. 3.5%
France9 resp. 2.9%
Portugal9 resp. 2.9%
United Kingdom9 resp. 2.9%
Spain7 resp. 2.3%
Belgium6 resp. 1.9%
Philippines6 resp. 1.9%
Ukraine6 resp. 1.9%
Australia5 resp. 1.6%
Austria5 resp. 1.6%
Italy5 resp. 1.6%
Mexico5 resp. 1.6%
Argentina4 resp. 1.3%
China4 resp. 1.3%
Colombia4 resp. 1.3%
Ireland4 resp. 1.3%
Kenya4 resp. 1.3%
Netherlands4 resp. 1.3%
Sweden4 resp. 1.3%
India3 resp. 1%
Pakistan3 resp. 1%
Russia3 resp. 1%
Slovenia3 resp. 1%
Switzerland3 resp. 1%
Bulgaria2 resp. 0.6%
Czechia (Czech Republic)2 resp. 0.6%
Denmark2 resp. 0.6%
Greece2 resp. 0.6%
Lithuania2 resp. 0.6%
New Zealand2 resp. 0.6%
Romania2 resp. 0.6%
Uganda2 resp. 0.6%
Cameroon1 resp. 0.3%
Chile1 resp. 0.3%
Croatia1 resp. 0.3%
Estonia1 resp. 0.3%
Georgia1 resp. 0.3%
Hungary1 resp. 0.3%
Iceland1 resp. 0.3%
Iran1 resp. 0.3%
Kazakhstan1 resp. 0.3%
Kuwait1 resp. 0.3%
Malta1 resp. 0.3%
Moldova1 resp. 0.3%
Nicaragua1 resp. 0.3%
Nigeria1 resp. 0.3%
Serbia1 resp. 0.3%
Singapore1 resp. 0.3%
South Korea1 resp. 0.3%
Sri Lanka1 resp. 0.3%
United Arab Emirates1 resp. 0.3%
Uruguay1 resp. 0.3%
Venezuela1 resp. 0.3%
Vietnam1 resp. 0.3%

Summary

And finally! It was an exciting question for all of us since many people tend to ask it. We also saw some reports in recent years where data seemed a bit off.

For sure, we will strive to gather even more answers next year, but in this survey, most of the Elixir developers are spread across the USA, Brazil, Poland, Germany, and Canada!

Since we're from Poland, we're happy to be on the podium, while it also seems like José Valim's country - Brazil - followed the creator of Elixir to take the second place. USA takes 1st place.

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