SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Fractional CTO / tech lead
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
* High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
* Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
* Feasibility study investigating the possibility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Fractional CTO / tech lead / senior backend dev
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
- Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
- EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
- Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
- University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Fractional CTO / tech lead
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
- Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
- EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
- Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
- University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Fractional CTO / tech lead
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
* High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
* Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
* Feasibility study investigating the possiblility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Senior backend dev / tech lead / fractional CTO
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
* High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
* Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
* Feasibility study investigating the possibility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Senior backend dev / tech lead / fractional CTO
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
* High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
* Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
* Feasibility study investigating the possiblility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Senior backend dev / tech lead / fractional CTO
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
- Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
- EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
- Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
- University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
- High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
- Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
- Feasibility study investigating the possiblility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Senior backend dev / tech lead / fractional CTO
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
SEEKING WORK - Remote, travel possible depending on location and duration.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Senior backend dev / tech lead / fractional CTO
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
* Deterministic AI for medical device regulations and other complex legal systems, including novel language and runtime for regulatory computing (Elixir, Raku, Rust)
* EDI message passing / reconciliation for US dental health insurance market, including X12 parser (Clojure, Common Lisp, Perl, XQuery)
* Custom domain specific language (DSL) to encode business rules for computer vision system (Common Lisp)
* University library data migration project, with a focus on completeness and validation. (Clojure, Elixir, Ruby)
* High-reliability, long-term timelapse platform for inaccessible locations. (FreeBSD, Arduino, Python, Shell)
* Migration of existing Node.js+Firebase service to Golang+PostgreSQL on AWS
* Feasibility study investigating the possiblility of writing custom code to interface with a biometric timeclock (Common Lisp)
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com
That's an interesting point that I should perhaps have covered in the original article.
The real code that this is based on is in fact hidden behind a GenServer for this exact reason -- to maintain the expectations of other Elixir code that has to interact with it. The advantage of the escape hatch, as another commenter mentions, is allowing efficient sparse mutations of a large chunk of data, without having to pay a copy penalty every time. I definitely wouldn't recommend sharing the db handle widely.
Did you consider a port (written in Rust) instead of a NIF?
When you're presenting a GenServer like message passing interface a port is a natural fit, with none of the risks related to linking a NIF into the VM itself.
(admittedly those risks are much lower with Rust than C)
In our case one of these NIF stores is created per user for a specific task; ironically, with the amount of polish that Rustler puts around NIFs I suspect it would have been more work and more risk to go down the port route and manage everything manually.
Have you measured performance? If mutating from Elixir like this can bring serious benefits, maybe there's a place for mutable versions of libraries like Explorer and Nx.
Explorer does actually use Rust (and polars) for a lot of its work -- its one on the libraries I looked at while figuring out my memory management issues.
No, it doesn't -- looking at the website that's an explicit trade-off of pure performance vs 'Elixir-ish-ness'. It would certainly break a lot of expectations to have data mutating like that without it being hidden away somewhere, so I can understand why they went that way.
In my case the data I'm dealing with is more of a store than a single data item, so I'm leaning on the example of things like ETS. Also it's within a single application rather than being a large generally-available library, so the trade-offs are different. It would be interesting to know if they did tests though.
Location: North-east UK
What I do: Fractional CTO / tech lead
Are you being held back by a constraining architecture, slow backend, or a team lacking the depth of experience you need for the next stage of your growth?
Most recently CTO of a regtech startup, I've spent the past 20+ years in a wide variety of tech roles building both products and teams, giving me the perspective to get your project moving without being bound to a particular language or stack.
Previous work:
Got something you think is a good fit? Drop me a line at mike -at- lambdafunctions -dot- com