[klabb3]

Not scam or even fad. It’s legit. However, details vary so I agree with the sibling that “design pattern” is the best classification for it.

I think it’s fair to say that the actor model is analogous to FP, but for distributed (and to a lesser extent multithreaded) computing. Just like FP has friction against imperative programming, there is a similar friction when interoping with traditional systems. Likewise, benefits pile up once you have some critical mass of subsystems that all use the actor model, where certain problems just go away.

I’m personally a big believer, it fits my mental model as I like to think about data flows first. That said, almost all systems today are request-response, so you have to either accept a certain amount of friction or embrace the much smaller ecosystem of message-based systems.

Just like regular programming is going more and more multi-paradigm, incorporating FP and others into mainstream langs, it seems like the distributed world is moving slowly in a multi-paradigm direction as well. For instance, databases and file systems are increasingly using message/event streams and sometimes exposing them directly to users.