An actor-based programming system

Abstract

A programming system is described with which applications are built by defining collections of communicating objects, called actors. The actor programming system provides a uniform environment in which distributed applications can be automated in a highly modular and efficient manner. The system's design is based on the formal theory of actors, with certain modifications made for the sake of efficiency. We describe our view of the actor system, and an implementation of that view. We also discuss applications built on, and contemplated for, the actor system.