I’ve published a new article in my Elixir learning series on dev.to exploring the module directives — alias, import, require, and use — the four tools that control how names from other modules become available in ours.
The article covers:
- The difference between the three lexically scoped directives and the use macro
- Using alias to shorten module names, including the :as option, grouping with braces, and nested aliases
- Bringing functions into scope with import, with only:, except:, and filtering functions vs macros
- How lexical scope works inside functions and what happens when imports collide
- Opting into macros with require, using the classic Integer.is_even/1 example
- use as an extension point and how it expands to require plus a using/1 callback
- Putting all three directives together in a realistic module
- Practical guidelines for when to reach for each tool — and why alias often beats import
With complete working examples you can copy into IEx, you’ll learn how these directives shape the namespace of a module and make the origin of every name clear — a big step toward reading and organizing Elixir code confidently.
Check it out:
