Libraries and BIFS for Distributed Programming
When we write distributed programs, we very rarely start from scratch. In the standard libraries, there are a number of modules that can be used to write distributed programs. These modules are written using the distribution BIFs, but they hide a lot of the complexity from the programmer.
Two modules in the standard distribution cover most needs.
-
rpcprovides a number of remote procedure call services. -
globalhas functions for the registration of names and locks in a distributed system and for the maintenance of a fully connected network.
The single most useful function in the module rpc is
the following:
call(Node, Mod, Function, Args) -> Result | {badrpc, Reason}-
This evaluates
apply(Mod, Function, ...
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