Integrating Elixir and Apache DataFusion with Rustler
Details
Join us for the Boulder Elixir Meetup on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at 6:30 PM MDT, held online via Google Meet. This monthly gathering brings together developers, enthusiasts, and professionals in the Boulder area to explore advancements in the Elixir ecosystem.
This month’s session focuses on leveraging Rust’s performance capabilities within Elixir applications through the Rustler library for Native Implemented Functions (NIFs). Our featured presentation will delve into integrating Apache DataFusion—a high-performance, Rust-based query engine built on Apache Arrow—with Elixir. We will examine practical implementation strategies, including safe data exchange across language boundaries, error handling in concurrent environments, and optimization techniques for compute-intensive workloads.
As a concrete example, we will walkthrough the experimental Arrow Elixir project (available on GitHub at treebee/elixir-arrow), which provides Elixir bindings to Apache Arrow’s columnar format and Parquet support via Rustler. Attendees will gain insights into building efficient data processing pipelines, such as vectorized operations and in-memory querying, while maintaining Elixir’s strengths in fault-tolerance and scalability.
The agenda includes:
• 6:30–7:00 PM: Networking and informal discussions
• 7:00–8:00 PM: Main presentation and live coding demo
• 8:00–8:30 PM: Q&A and roundtable sharing
Whether you are new to Rust-Elixir interoperability or seeking to enhance data workflows in your projects, this meetup offers valuable takeaways. RSVP today to secure your spot and receive the Zoom details. We encourage contributions—feel free to propose topics for future sessions in the comments.