Data Types In Elixir: Types And Tips On How To Use Them

Have you heard of the programming language Elixir? Well, Elixir is an extremely popular programming language which is used quite frequently by the programmers. It is a dynamic language that runs on the Erlang Virtual Machine. The programming language is especially popular for its fault tolerance feature.

One of the most important components of Elixir just like any other CSS programming language is its data types. Online elixir Programming tutorial comes with 8 different data types each of which is used differently as per the requirements. So, here we are going to talk to you about the different data types in Elixir and the different tips on how you can make use of these data types effectively while you are writing a piece of code:

 

Numbers: 

Elixir supports both integer and floating-point numbers. Integers can be decimal, hexadecimal octal or binary. Floating point numbers are those numbers that are written with a decimal point or in scientific notation. Elixir also supports complex numbers.

While using integers, it is always important for you to keep in mind that the division between two integers always gives an integer as a result. So, if you want to get floating point numbers as results, it is important that you use floating point numbers in your calculation as well. You can also try converting the of the operands to a floating-point number to get the required results.

 

1. Atoms: Atoms are used to represent symbols they can be used as messages in a program. The atoms are written with a leading colon followed by a sequence of digits, letters, and underscores. 

Atoms should also be used for all those values that do not change constantly during the program execution. Otherwise, they can cause different types of memory issues.

 

2. Boolean: There are two different Boolean values existing in Elixir just like other programming languages. These are true and false. They are used in Boolean operators and conditional statements.

Boolean variable operators are mostly used when the outcome needs to be in true or false. You should also use the Boolean variable names according to the way they are being used in the program.

 

3. String: Elixir can support both single quoted and double quoted strings. Single quoted strings are character strings while double quoted strings are binary strings. 

Try using double quoted strings while working on Unicode characters. Character strings can be used for everything else.

 

4. List: Lists are a collection of different values written within square brackets. You can include any kind of data type within a list including another list.

Make use of lists for small collections of data only. For larger data collections, maps and structs are the ideal options.

 

5. Tuples: Tuples are quite similar to lists. However, they are enclosed in curly brackets. Tuples come in fixed sizes and they can contain any other data type.

Make use of tuples for fixed sized data collections. You can also make use of tuples to return multiple values from a function.

 

6. Maps: Maps are key value pairs that are enclosed in % {}. Maps can contain any data type of value or key. 

You can make use of the map for larger data collections. They are also used for manipulating complex data structures.

 

7. Struct: Structs are quite similar to maps. However, they have a definite set of keys and values. They are designed using the defstruct macros.

You can use structs for complex data structures. They can also be used to represent data objects or records.

To know more about Elixir, you may give our website a visit and you will get all the details.