Actors: A Model of Concurrent Computation [pdf] (1985)
by kioku on 2/2/2026, 1:11:15 AM
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA157917.pdf
Comments
by: kibwen
Please change the title to the original, "Actors: A Model Of Concurrent Computation In Distributed Systems".<p>I'm not normally a stickler for HN's rule about title preservation, but in this case the "in distributed systems" part is crucial, because IMO the urge to use both the actor model (and its relative, CSP) in non-distributed systems solely in order to achieve concurrency has been a massive boondoggle and a huge dead end. Which is to say, if you're within a single process, what you want is structured concurrency ( <a href="https://vorpus.org/blog/notes-on-structured-concurrency-or-go-statement-considered-harmful/" rel="nofollow">https://vorpus.org/blog/notes-on-structured-concurrency-or-g...</a> ), not the unstructured concurrency that is inherent to a distributed system.
2/2/2026, 3:12:41 AM
by: esafak
A more legible version: <a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/6952" rel="nofollow">https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/6952</a><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gul_Agha_(computer_scientist)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gul_Agha_(computer_scientist)</a>
2/2/2026, 2:22:52 AM
by: jeanlucas
Missing: (1985)
2/2/2026, 2:49:56 AM
by: michaelsbradley
May be of interest: Pony Language is designed from the ground up to support the Actor model.<p><a href="https://www.ponylang.io/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ponylang.io/</a>
2/2/2026, 2:54:32 AM
by:
2/2/2026, 3:23:54 AM