@@ -2,29 +2,22 @@ Kestrel ======= -Kestrel is a port of Blaine Cook's "starling" message queue -system from ruby to scala: <http://rubyforge.org/projects/starling/> +Kestrel is based on Blaine Cook's "starling" simple, distributed message +queue, with added features and bulletproofing, as well as the scalability +offered by actors and the JVM. -In Blaine's words: - -> Starling is a powerful but simple messaging server that enables reliable -> distributed queuing with an absolutely minimal overhead. It speaks the -> MemCache protocol for maximum cross-platform compatibility. Any language -> that speaks MemCache can take advantage of Starling's queue facilities. - -The concept of starling is to have a single server handle reliable, ordered -message queues. When you put a cluster of these servers together, -*with no cross communication*, and pick a server at random whenever you do a -`set` or `get`, you end up with a reliable, *loosely ordered* message queue. +Each server handles a set reliable, ordered message queues. When you put a +cluster of these servers together, *with no cross communication*, and pick a +server at random whenever you do a `set` or `get`, you end up with a reliable, +*loosely ordered* message queue. In many situations, loose ordering is sufficient. Dropping the requirement on cross communication makes it horizontally scale to infinity and beyond: no multicast, no clustering, no "elections", no coordination at all. No talking! Shhh! -Kestrel adds several additional features, like ginormous queues, reliable -fetch, and blocking/timeout fetch -- as well as the scalability offered by -actors and the JVM. +For more information about what it is and how to use it, check out +the included [guide](docs/guide.md). Features -------- @@ -69,8 +62,8 @@ Kestrel is not: - transactional This is not a database. Item ownership is transferred with acknowledgement, - but kestrel does not concern itself with what happens to an item after a - client has accepted it. + but kestrel does not support multiple outstanding operations, and treats + each enqueued item as an atomic unit. Building it README.md d44fc3037ccfd1ef03466d1815745aa4a944d31b Robey Pointer robey@twitter.com http://github.com/robey/kestrel/commit/8b0f87b53bcfa92219b1670ee80f1de440605424 8b0f87b53bcfa92219b1670ee80f1de440605424 2009-10-01T13:34:55-07:00 2009-10-01T13:34:55-07:00 cleanup docs a little more. b4f8cfc33b694ea9cf6f4e56adb923831cf802bf Robey Pointer robey@twitter.com