Erlang Concurrency
Introduction
Erlang's concurrency model based on lightweight processes and message passing enables building massively scalable systems. Processes are isolated with no shared memory, communicating asynchronously through messages. This model eliminates concurrency bugs common in shared-memory systems.
The BEAM VM efficiently schedules millions of processes, each with its own heap and mailbox. Process creation is fast and cheap, enabling "process per entity" designs. Links and monitors provide failure detection, while selective receive enables flexible message handling patterns.
This skill covers process creation and spawning, message passing patterns, process links and monitors, selective receive, error propagation, concurrent design patterns, and building scalable concurrent systems.
Process Creation and Spawning
Create lightweight processes for concurrent task execution.
%% Basic process spawning
simple_spawn() ->
Pid = spawn(fun() ->
io:format("Hello from process pn", [self()])
end),
Pid.
%% Spawn with arguments
spawn_with_args(Message) ->
spawn(fun() ->
io:format("Message: pn", [Message])
end).
%% Spawn and register spawn_registered() -> Pid = spawn(fun() -> loop() end), register(my_process, Pid), Pid.
loop() ->
receive
stop -> ok;
Msg ->
io:format("Received: pn", [Msg]),
loop()
end.
%% Spawn link (linked processes) spawn_linked() -> spawn_link(fun() -> timer:sleep(1000), io:format("Linked process done~n") end).
%% Spawn monitor spawn_monitored() -> {Pid, Ref} = spawn_monitor(fun() -> timer:sleep(500), exit(normal) end), {Pid, Ref}.
%% Process pools create_pool(N) -> [spawn(fun() -> worker_loop() end) || _ <- lists:seq(1, N)].
worker_loop() -> receive {work, Data, From} -> Result = process_data(Data), From ! {result, Result}, worker_loop(); stop -> ok end.
process_data(Data) -> Data * 2.
%% Parallel map pmap(F, List) -> Parent = self(), Pids = [spawn(fun() -> Parent ! {self(), F(X)} end) || X <- List], [receive {Pid, Result} -> Result end || Pid <- Pids].
%% Fork-join pattern fork_join(Tasks) -> Self = self(), Pids = [spawn(fun() -> Result = Task(), Self ! {self(), Result} end) || Task <- Tasks], [receive {Pid, Result} -> Result end || Pid <- Pids].
Lightweight processes enable massive concurrency with minimal overhead.
Message Passing Patterns
Processes communicate through asynchronous message passing without shared memory.
%% Send and receive
send_message() ->
Pid = spawn(fun() ->
receive
{From, Msg} ->
io:format("Received: pn", [Msg]),
From ! {reply, "Acknowledged"}
end
end),
Pid ! {self(), "Hello"},
receive
{reply, Response} ->
io:format("Response: pn", [Response])
after 5000 ->
io:format("Timeout~n")
end.
%% Request-response pattern request(Pid, Request) -> Ref = make_ref(), Pid ! {self(), Ref, Request}, receive {Ref, Response} -> {ok, Response} after 5000 -> {error, timeout} end.
server_loop() -> receive {From, Ref, {add, A, B}} -> From ! {Ref, A + B}, server_loop(); {From, Ref, {multiply, A, B}} -> From ! {Ref, A * B}, server_loop(); stop -> ok end.
%% Publish-subscribe start_pubsub() -> spawn(fun() -> pubsub_loop([]) end).
pubsub_loop(Subscribers) -> receive {subscribe, Pid} -> pubsub_loop([Pid | Subscribers]); {unsubscribe, Pid} -> pubsub_loop(lists:delete(Pid, Subscribers)); {publish, Message} -> [Pid ! {message, Message} || Pid <- Subscribers], pubsub_loop(Subscribers) end.
%% Pipeline pattern pipeline(Data, Functions) -> lists:foldl(fun(F, Acc) -> F(Acc) end, Data, Functions).
concurrent_pipeline(Data, Stages) -> Self = self(), lists:foldl(fun(Stage, AccData) -> Pid = spawn(fun() -> Result = Stage(AccData), Self ! {result, Result} end), receive {result, R} -> R end end, Data, Stages).
Message passing enables safe concurrent communication without locks.
Links and Monitors
Links bidirectionally connect processes while monitors provide one-way observation.
%% Process linking
link_example() ->
process_flag(trap_exit, true),
Pid = spawn_link(fun() ->
timer:sleep(1000),
exit(normal)
end),
receive
{'EXIT', Pid, Reason} ->
io:format("Process exited: pn", [Reason])
end.
%% Monitoring
monitor_example() ->
Pid = spawn(fun() ->
timer:sleep(500),
exit(normal)
end),
Ref = monitor(process, Pid),
receive
{'DOWN', Ref, process, Pid, Reason} ->
io:format("Process down: pn", [Reason])
end.
%% Supervisor pattern supervisor() -> process_flag(trap_exit, true), Worker = spawn_link(fun() -> worker() end), supervisor_loop(Worker).
supervisor_loop(Worker) -> receive {'EXIT', Worker, _Reason} -> NewWorker = spawn_link(fun() -> worker() end), supervisor_loop(NewWorker) end.
worker() -> receive crash -> exit(crashed); work -> worker() end.
Links and monitors enable building fault-tolerant systems with automatic failure detection.
Best Practices
Create processes liberally as they are lightweight and cheap to spawn
Use message passing exclusively for inter-process communication without shared state
Implement proper timeouts on receives to prevent indefinite blocking
Use monitors for one-way observation when bidirectional linking unnecessary
Keep process state minimal to reduce memory usage per process
Use registered names sparingly as global names limit scalability
Implement proper error handling with links and monitors for fault tolerance
Use selective receive to handle specific messages while leaving others queued
Avoid message accumulation by handling all message patterns in receive clauses
Profile concurrent systems to identify bottlenecks and optimize hot paths
Common Pitfalls
Creating too few processes underutilizes Erlang's concurrency model
Not using timeouts in receive causes indefinite blocking on failure
Accumulating messages in mailboxes causes memory leaks and performance degradation
Using shared ETS tables as mutex replacement defeats isolation benefits
Not handling all message types causes mailbox overflow with unmatched messages
Forgetting to trap exits in supervisors prevents proper error handling
Creating circular links causes cascading failures without proper supervision
Using processes for fine-grained parallelism adds overhead without benefits
Not monitoring spawned processes loses track of failures
Overusing registered names creates single points of failure and contention
When to Use This Skill
Apply processes for concurrent tasks requiring isolation and independent state.
Use message passing for all inter-process communication in distributed systems.
Leverage links and monitors to build fault-tolerant supervision hierarchies.
Create process pools for concurrent request handling and parallel computation.
Use selective receive for complex message handling protocols.
Resources
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Erlang Concurrency Tutorial
-
Learn You Some Erlang - Concurrency
-
Erlang Process Manual
-
Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP
-
Programming Erlang