Elixir Notes: Modules

28th January 2021

A module is a collection of functions that can be used to organize your code in a manner similar to namespacing.

Modules are defined in Elixir with the defmodule keyword.

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# Define a module
defmodule MyModule do
  # Contents
end

# Define a nested helpers module
defmodule MyModule.Helpers do
  # Contents
end

# Define module attributes
defmodule MyModule do
  @some_attribute "some attribute value"
  # Contents
end

Considerations

  • Modules must start with an uppercase [A-Z]
  • CamelCase is the formatting convention used for module naming.
  • Modules can contain upper/lower case [a-zA-Z], _ underscore and the dot . characters.
  • The . character signifies module hierarchy
  • The . character is a syntastic convenience. After compilation there is no relation between MyModule and MyModule.Helpers
  • Module attributes are compile time constants. The can also be registered and queried at runtime.

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