Actor model
The actor model is a concurrency model in which independent actors encapsulate state and communicate by exchanging messages, typically asynchronously.
Akka in Action, Second Edition
The actor model structures concurrent computation as isolated actors that encapsulate state and behavior and communicate through asynchronous messages.
- How it is used
- Provides one message-driven abstraction for building concurrent and distributed applications that scale up and out.
- How deep it goes
- Defines actor operations and asynchronous messaging, but defers detailed runtime implementation mechanics.
- Examples
- Uses a chat application with Conversation and Mentions actors to illustrate decoupled message exchange.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via Akka to structure scalable applications around actors, messages, and isolated failures.
Read how Akka in Action, Second Edition explains actor model →
C++ Concurrency in Action, Second Edition
The actor model is a concurrency model in which independent actors communicate by sending messages and do not share state directly.
- How it is used
- Uses message passing to structure an ATM workflow without making its state-machine logic manage synchronization.
- How deep it goes
- Defines actors through a simplified ATM example, tracing message handling and state changes while leaving realistic ATM logic aside.
- Examples
- Demonstrates an ATM state machine that handles card, PIN, and button messages and communicates with bank and interface components.
- What you can do after
- Understand how to organize concurrent components as message-driven actors and reason about accepted messages and state transitions.
Read how C++ Concurrency in Action, Second Edition explains actor model →
Related concepts
- Akkaused by · Akka is an open-source toolkit for building concurrent, distributed, and resilient applications on the JVM using actor-based abstractions.
- message passinguses · A communication or computation technique in which entities exchange messages to transmit or propagate information, coordinate work, or update state.
- actorhas part · An actor is an independent entity or participant that performs actions, maintains or pursues state or goals, and interacts with other entities or systems.
- messageuses · A message is a discrete unit of information or data represented, processed, or exchanged in a communication context.
- horizontal scalingaddresses · Horizontal scaling is adjusting system capacity by adding or removing computing nodes or equivalent instances that share or distribute the workload.
- vertical scalingaddresses · Vertical scaling is increasing or decreasing a system’s capacity by changing the resources available to an existing machine, node, or instance.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.