Elixir vs. Nix vs. Python vs. Refraction Comparison Chart

Elixir is a dynamic, functional language for building scalable and maintainable applications. Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed, and fault-tolerant systems. Elixir is successfully used in web development, embedded software, data ingestion, and multimedia processing, across a wide range of industries. Check our getting started guide and our learning page to begin your journey with Elixir. All Elixir code runs inside lightweight threads of execution (called processes) that are isolated and exchange information via messages. Due to their lightweight nature, it is not uncommon to have hundreds of thousands of processes running concurrently in the same machine. Isolation allows processes to be garbage collected independently, reducing system-wide pauses, and using all machine resources as efficiently as possible (vertical scaling). Processes are also able to communicate with other processes running on different machines in the same network.

The core of extensible programming is defining functions. Python allows mandatory and optional arguments, keyword arguments, and even arbitrary argument lists. Whether you're new to programming or an experienced developer, it's easy to learn and use Python. Python can be easy to pick up whether you're a first-time programmer or you're experienced with other languages. The following pages are a useful first step to get on your way to writing programs with Python! The community hosts conferences and meetups to collaborate on code, and much more. Python's documentation will help you along the way, and the mailing lists will keep you in touch. The Python Package Index (PyPI) hosts thousands of third-party modules for Python. Both Python's standard library and the community-contributed modules allow for endless possibilities.