This is a simple and easy to use Actor system in Common Lisp.
Requires Bordeaux threads. http://common-lisp.net/project/bordeaux-threads/ 2. Just load actors.lisp and start using it.
If you have Quicklisp, (ql:quickload "cl-actors")
A small manual can be found at : http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~govinn/actors.pdf
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Creating an actor class or template
(defactor Actor-Class (state) (message-vars) behavior)
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Creating an actor instance
(setq my-actor (Actor-Class (:state-var_1 value_1 ... :state-var_n value_n)))
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Sending a message
(send my-actor message_args)
- Concurrency using the actors model.
- Dynamic behavior change of actors.
- A ticker: Keeps printing out a count every 2 seconds, starting from 0 and incrementing it every 2 seconds.
;create the ticker template
(defactor ticker ((counter 0)) (m)
(sleep 2) (pr counter)
(incf counter) (send self nil) next)
; Create an instance
(setf t1 (ticker))
; send a message (async)
(send t1 nil)
; to stop use
(stop-actor t1)
- A print actor: Prints the message which was sent to it. A very useful utility actor.
;create the actor template
(defactor print-actor () (val) (pr val) next)
; initialize a new instance
(setf printer (print-actor))
;send values for printing
(send printer "hello, world")
- A factorial computing actor : The name says it all :)
;create the template
(defactor fact ((temp 1)) (n cust)
(if (equal 1 n)
(progn (send cust (* temp 1))
(setf temp 1) next)
(progn (setf temp (* n temp))
(send self (- n 1) cust) next)))
;create a new instance
(setf f (fact))
; send a value
(send f 4 print-actor)
- A nagger for fun : Works only in Mac OS X. Keeps saying out aloud "please work" every 10 seconds :)
(defactor nagger () ()
(sleep 10)
(trivial-shell:shell-command "say please work")
(send self) next)
; anonymous actor , no way to stop the nagging
(send (nagger))
- Meta-Circular Adventures in Functional Abstraction The wonderful and detailed original blog post is no longer availabe. The link below points to a snaphost. https://hackerfall.com/story/challenging-clojure-in-common-lisp