Exploring Concurrency in Elixir with The Actor Model

The blog post 'Unpacking Elixir: The Actor Model' by Lars Wikman explains that, within the context of Elixir and the BEAM VM, the term 'actor' as traditionally understood in The Actor Model does not apply, although the processes and message passing used are similar to an actor-based approach. Elixir's GenServer acts as a high-level representation of an actor, where processes send and receive messages and maintain state across a loop of execution. The interplay between processes is crucial for Elixir applications, enabling concurrency and distribution. However, Elixir predominantly follows the principles of functional programming, with processes like GenServer underlying the architecture. The article guides readers through understanding the roles of processes, how they should be used in system design rather than code organization, and how they facilitate building robust systems. It also touches upon the traps of trying to use processes like OOP classes and the importance of testing and structuring code for maintainability and testability.