Description

Real-time applications come with real challenges—persistent connections, multi-server deployment, and strict performance requirements are just a few. Don’t try to solve these challenges by yourself—use a framework that handles them for you. Elixir and Phoenix Channels provide a solid foundation on which to build stable and scalable real-time applications. Build applications that thrive for years to come with the best practices found in this book.

Understand the magic of real-time communication by inspecting the WebSocket protocol in action. Avoid performance pitfalls early in the development life cycle with a catalog of common problems and their solutions. Leverage GenStage to build a data pipeline that improves scalability. Break your application before your users do and deploy with confidence. Build a real-world project using solid application design and testing practices that help make future changes a breeze. Create distributed apps that can scale to many users with tools like Phoenix Tracker. Deploy and monitor your application with confidence and reduce outages.

Deliver an exceptional real-time experience to your users, with easy maintenance, reduced operational costs, and maximized performance, using Elixir and Phoenix Channels.

Contents and Extracts

<b>Introduction</b>

• Powering Real-Time Applications with Phoenix
  • Connect a Simple WebSocket <b>excerpt</b>
    • Why WebSockets?
    • Connecting our First WebSocket
    • WebSocket Protocol
    • Long Polling, a Real-Time Alternative
    • WebSockets and Phoenix Channels
    • Wrapping Up
  • First Steps with Phoenix Channels
    • What are Phoenix Channels?
    • Understanding Channel Structure
    • PubSub
    • Send and Receive Messages
    • Channel Clients
    • Wrapping Up
  • Restrict Socket and Channel Access
    • Why Restrict Access?
    • Add Authentication to Sockets
    • Add Authorization to Channels
    • Use Authentication from JavaScript
    • When to Write a New Socket
    • Wrapping Up
  • Dive Deep into Phoenix Channels
    • Design for Unreliable Connections
    • Use Channels in a Cluster <b>excerpt</b>
    • Customize Channel Behavior
    • Write Tests
    • Wrapping Up
  • Avoid Performance Pitfalls
    • Measure Everything
    • Keep Your Channels Asynchronous
    • Build a Scalable Data Pipeline
    • Wrapping Up
• Building a Real-Time Application
  • Build a Real-Time Sneaker Store
    • From Product Requirements to a Plan
    • Set Up the Project
    • Render Real-Time HTML with Channels <b>excerpt</b>
    • Update a Client with Real-Time Data
    • Run Multiple Servers
    • Wrapping Up
  • Break Your Application with Acceptance Tests
    • The Power of Acceptance Testing
    • Break Your App Like a User
    • Break Your App Like a Server
    • Automate Acceptance Tests With Hound
    • Wrapping Up
  • Build a Real-Time Shopping Cart
    • Plan Your Shopping Cart
    • Scaffold Your Shopping Cart Channel
    • Build Your Shopping Cart Channel
    • Add Real-Time Out-Of-Stock Alerts
    • Acceptance Test the Shopping Cart
    • Wrapping Up
  • Track Connected Carts with Presence
    • Plan Your Admin Dashboard
    • On Track with Phoenix Tracker
    • Use Tracker in an Application
    • Phoenix Tracker Versus Presence
    • Scaffold the Admin Dashboard
    • Track Shopping Carts in Real-Time
    • Assemble the Admin Dashboard
    • Load Test the Admin Dashboard
    • Wrapping Up
• Bringing Real-Time Applications to Production
  • Deploy Your Application to Production
    • The Lay of the Land
    • Achieve Scalability with Load Balancing
    • Push New Code Safely
    • Cluster Your BEAM Nodes Together
    • Advanced Phoenix Channel Configuration
    • Wrapping Up
  • Manage Real-Time Resources
    • Getting Comfortable with Elixir’s Scheduler
    • Manage Your Application’s Memory Effectively
    • Inspect a Running Application
    • Wrapping Up
• Exploring Front-End Technologies
  • Hands-On with Phoenix LiveView
    • Getting Started with LiveView
    • Build a LiveView Product Page
    • Write Tests for a LiveView
    • Wrapping Up
  • Single-Page Apps with React
    • Manage Channel State in React
    • Write Channels as Components
    • Hands-On with React
    • React Native Channels
    • Wrapping Up
    • The End of Our Journey