Stage: Python with Actors
File(s)actors-in-python.pdf (563.46 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Ayres, J
Eisenbach, S
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Programmers hoping to exploit multi-core processors must split their applications into threads suitable for independent, concurrent execution. The lock-based concurrency of many existing languages is clumsy and error prone -- a barrier to writing fast and correct concurrent code.\r\n\r\nThe Actor model exudes concurrency -- each entity in the model (an Actor) executes concurrently. Interaction is restricted to message passing which prevents many of the errors associated with shared mutable state and locking, the common alternative. By favouring message passing over method calling the Actor model makes distribution straightforward. \r\n\r\nEarly Actor-based languages enjoyed only moderate success, probably because they were before their time. More recent Actor languages have enjoyed greater success, the most successful being Erlang, but the language is functional; a paradigm unfamiliar to many programmers. There is a need for a language that presents a familiar and fast encoding of the Actor model. In this paper we present Stage, our mobile Actor language based on Python.
Date Issued
2009-05
Citation
2009
ISBN
978-1-4244-3718-4
Publisher
IEEE
Source Title
2nd International Workshop on Multicore Software Engineering (IWMSE 2009) held at the 31st International Conference on Software Engineering
Conference
2009 ICSE WORKSHOP ON MULTICORE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (IWMSE)
Start Page
25
End Page
32
Copyright Statement
© 2009 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
Source
International Workshop on Multicore Software Engineering (IWMSE)
Source Place
Vancouver, CANADA