How deeply does Elixir in Action, Third Edition cover BEAM concurrency?

Introduces processes, isolation, links, supervisors, and distribution, while deferring lower-level runtime details.

BEAM concurrency

As explained in Elixir in Action, Third Edition

The BEAM concurrency model is the set of abstractions and scheduling rules through which the BEAM virtual machine executes concurrent processes.

BEAM concurrency uses lightweight processes as the primary unit of concurrent work, supporting scalability, fault tolerance, and distribution. Its fine-grained model can assign processes to individual players and game sessions rather than requiring separate operating-system processes. section 5.0 section 1.1.5

The model combines several operational properties:

Process isolation limits the impact of individual errors. section 12.2.6
Process links propagate failures, while supervisors support recovery and self-healing. section 12.2.6
Distribution allows systems to use additional nodes and survive crashes of entire machines. section 12.2.6

BEAM concurrency complements microservices: microservices simplify deployment, horizontal scaling, and coarse-grained fault tolerance, while BEAM processes provide finer-grained responsiveness, vertical scalability, and fault tolerance. section 1.1.5

How Elixir in Action, Third Edition covers it

Cover of Elixir in Action, Third Edition

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Related concepts

uptimeproduces · Uptime is the duration or proportion of a specified period during which a system or service is operational and available to provide its intended function.
microservice architecturecontrasts with · Microservice architecture is a software architectural style that organizes an application as independently deployable services with focused responsibilities that communicate through defined interfaces.
Elixiruses · Elixir is a functional, concurrent programming language that runs on the Erlang BEAM virtual machine and supports distributed, fault-tolerant software.
Erlanguses · Erlang is a concurrent functional programming language designed for scalable, distributed, fault-tolerant, and highly available systems.
distributed systemproduces · A distributed system is a computing system whose components run across multiple networked processes or machines and coordinate through communication.
scalabilityproduces · Scalability is the ability of a system, process, or method to accommodate increasing workload, size, or demand while maintaining acceptable operation.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Elixir in Action, Third Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.