[erlang-questions] [Q] Why is Erlang VM better than traditional OS like Linux?

[Lee Sylvester]

Hi Ladislav,

Erlang processes aren’t the same as OS processes (or even threads).  Erlang processes are simply a stack.  Because Erlang uses the Actor model, sending data between them using messages, there is no corruption of memory, need for mutexes or locks, and as such, processes can be extremely small, extremely fast and easy to use.

I’m no expert myself, but that’s the general gist.

Regards,
Lee


On 6 Aug 2014, at 15:15, Ladislav Lenart <lenartlad@REDACTED> wrote:

> Hello.
> 
> A friend of mine asked me:
> 
> Why is Erlang VM better at handling large volume of running processes than
> traditional OS like Linux?
> 
> I have realized that I really don't know.
> 
> Is it because Erlang process occupies an order of magnitude less space than an
> OS process?
> Is it because a userspace scheduler such as Erlang VM is faster at process
> switching? If so, why is that?
> Is it somehow related to Erlang's share nothing philosophy? If so, how exactly?
> Something else?
> 
> 
> Thank you in advance for enlighten me (us),
> 
> Ladislav Lenart
> 
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