Packages Glossary

By default, Phoenix applications depend on several packages with different purposes. This page is a quick reference of the different packages you may work with as a Phoenix developer.

The main packages are:

• Ecto - a language integrated query and database wrapper

• Phoenix - the Phoenix web framework (these docs)

• Phoenix LiveView - build rich, real-time user experiences with server-rendered HTML. The LiveView project also defines Phoenix.Component and the HEEx template engine, used for rendering HTML content in both regular and real-time applications

• Plug - specification and conveniences for building composable modules web applications. This is the package responsible for the connection abstraction and the regular request- response life-cycle

You will also work with the following:

• ExUnit - Elixir's built-in test framework

• Gettext - internationalization and localization through gettext

• Swoosh - a library for composing, delivering and testing emails, also used by mix phx.gen.auth

When peeking under the covers, you will find those libraries play an important role in Phoenix applications:

• Phoenix HTML - building blocks for working with HTML and forms safely

• Phoenix Ecto - plugs and protocol implementations for using phoenix with ecto

• Phoenix PubSub - a distributed pub/sub system with presence support

When it comes to instrumentation and monitoring, check out:

• Phoenix LiveDashboard - real-time performance monitoring and debugging tools for Phoenix developers

• Telemetry Metrics - common interface for defining metrics based on Telemetry events