The advantages are quite tangible, apparently (the best kind of argument, frankly). To excerpt some metrics from that link:
"So, we like Elixir and have seen some pretty big wins with it. The system that manages rate limits for both the Pinterest API and Ads API is built in Elixir. Its 50 percent response time is around 500 microseconds with a 90 percent response time of 800 microseconds. Yes, microseconds (millionths of a second). ...We’ve also seen an improvement in code clarity. We’re converting our notifications system from Java to Elixir. The Java version used an Actor system and weighed in at around 10,000 lines of code. The new Elixir system has shrunk this to around 1000 lines. The Elixir based system is also faster and more consistent than the Java one and runs on half the number of servers."
I'm not the kind of person to regularly use the exclamation, but I couldn't help saying "holy shit!" aloud when I first read that.
Are you referring to the LOC or the response times? If you're talking about the response times, then it totally depends on what the system was doing. Microsecond response times are achievable in any language, if e.g. you never had to talk to any external resources.
"So, we like Elixir and have seen some pretty big wins with it. The system that manages rate limits for both the Pinterest API and Ads API is built in Elixir. Its 50 percent response time is around 500 microseconds with a 90 percent response time of 800 microseconds. Yes, microseconds (millionths of a second). ...We’ve also seen an improvement in code clarity. We’re converting our notifications system from Java to Elixir. The Java version used an Actor system and weighed in at around 10,000 lines of code. The new Elixir system has shrunk this to around 1000 lines. The Elixir based system is also faster and more consistent than the Java one and runs on half the number of servers."
I'm not the kind of person to regularly use the exclamation, but I couldn't help saying "holy shit!" aloud when I first read that.