Installation & Tooling

2.1 Installing

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian) Download the installer from elixir-lang.org, or

Version managers (recommended for real projects) — asdf or mise:

brew install elixir

sudo apt install elixir erlang

winget install ErlangSolutions.Erlang.OTP ElixirLang.Elixir

mise use -g erlang@27 [email protected]
# or
asdf plugin add erlang && asdf plugin add elixir
asdf install erlang 27.2 && asdf install elixir 1.18.1-otp-27

elixir --version

2.2 The tools

Run .exs scripts / .ex files Compile files to .beam Build tool: create projects, compile, test, deps, releases Package manager (mix hex.*)

2.3 Editor setup

VS Code: *ElixirLS* or *Expert* (the official Elixir language server project), plus *Lexical/Next LS* alternatives.

Neovim / Emacs / Zed / JetBrains: LSP clients with ElixirLS/Expert.

2.4 File extensions

.ex — compiled source (library/application code).

.exs — scripts (tests, config, one-offs), interpreted.

.heex — HTML+EEx templates (Phoenix).

.eex — embedded Elixir templates.