You could try Code.eval_string/3 if you want to parse the changed “something” file from within Elixir to produce a string representation of the module def.

Alternatively Code.eval_file/2 if you dynamically write/update an .ex file from your “something” file.

This is compilation-time dependency, which helps to mark a module as “recompilation needed” for the regular elixir compiler when say mix compile is to be invoked next time. It has zero value here, unfortunately.

Yes, kinda. There is a pitfall one should be aware of: the module recompilation is not instant.

I would spawn the process as gateway access to the module to be recompiled that both recompiles whatever is needed and its mailbox acts as a queue for both subsequent recompilations and all the interactions with this module. That way one can be sure that the module gets accessed if and only it’s available.

Please note, that Module.create/3 accepts an AST. If you want to load a regular .ex[s] file, use Code.eval_file/2 as suggested by @03juan.

You might use @external_resource attribute on a module…

If the external resource file change, the module will recompile.

https://hexdocs.pm/elixir/1.12/Module.html