Today in the Creator’s Lab, Tony Dang joins Elixir Wizards Sundi Myint and Owen Bickford to break down his journey of creating a local-first, offline-ready to-do app using Phoenix LiveView, Svelte, and CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types).

Tony explains why offline functionality matters and how this feature can transform various apps. He shares insights on different libraries, algorithms, and techniques for building local-first experiences and highlights the advantages of Elixir and Phoenix LiveView.

Tony also shares his go-to tools, like Inertia.js for connecting Phoenix backends with JavaScript frontends, and favorite Elixir packages like Oban, Joken, and Hammer, offering a toolkit for anyone building powerful, adaptable applications.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Tony Dang's background from mechanical engineer to web developer
Building an offline-enabled to-do app with Phoenix LiveView and Svelte
CRDTs: Conflict-free Replicated Data Types for merging changes offline
How to make a LiveView app work offline
Sending full state updates vs. incremental updates for performance optimization
Inspiring others through open-source projects and community contributions
Learning vanilla Phoenix and Channels to understand LiveView better
Handling stale CSRF tokens when reconnecting to a LiveView app offline
Exploring service workers and browser APIs for managing offline connectivity
Balancing the use of JavaScript and Elixir in web development
Fostering a supportive and inspiring Elixir community

Links mentioned:

Special Guest: Tony Dang.

Creating a Local-First Offline-Enabled LiveView PWA with Tony Dang

Elixir Wizards