Reactive Messaging Patterns with the Actor Model: Applications and Integration in Scala and Akka

Chapter 3. Performance Bent

Transistors. Transistors and clock speed. Yes, transistors and clock speed. What indulgences we have enjoyed.

Do you give much consideration to these qualities of microprocessors while you are programming? For about half a century, transistors and clock speed played an exponentially increasing role on our software systems. Our addiction to accelerating numbers of transistors and increasing clock speeds went unchecked. To keep our ever-more complex programs running at the accelerating speeds, we craved greater numbers, and the semiconductor pros delivered.

Take transistors. Early transistorized computers were developed by those who struggled to keep a few thousand brittle transistors operational. Today there are many ...