🔗 Structs vs Embedded Schemas in Elixir

When working with Elixir, one of the most common misconceptions I've encountered is that Ecto is simply a database ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) tool. However, Elixir is not an object-oriented language, and this fundamental difference means we need to approach data modeling differently than in languages like Ruby or Python.

In Elixir, when developers need to group related data together, they often default to using structs, which is indeed the idiomatic way in Elixir. However, in a dynamic language like Elixir where field types aren't enforced at compile time, this can lead to code that's difficult to maintain and prone to runtime errors. This is where validation becomes crucial, and you might find yourself writing a lot of manual validation code.

Enter Ecto's embedded schemas - a powerful feature that provides a structured way to group and validate data without the need for database persistence. Whether you're working with JSON APIs, form submissions, or complex data transformations, embedded schemas offer a robust solution for data validation and manipulation.

In this post, we'll dive deep into both approaches, explore their use cases, and help you make informed decisions about when to use each.