Features

Find out what makes Pronghorn so great.

1. Broad compatibility

  • Java profile compact1

  • No use of Unsafe, Java 9 module compatibility

2. Simple concurrency model

  • Quickly write correct code with actors

  • Easily leverage hundreds or more cores

  • All pipes are defined as produced from one actor and consumed by one other

3. Separation of design concerns

  • Business aware scheduling

    • Actors who do not have work are not scheduled

    • Schedulers can be custom designed or existing solutions applied

  • Strong types generated externally

    • Types between actors are externally defined

    • New fields can be added and mapped to new business specific usages

4. Multiple APIs

  • Embedded friendly use of wrapping arrays

  • Integrate with a wide variety of existing interfaces

  • Visitors for reading and writing

  • Object proxies for reading and writing

  • Zero copy direct access to input and output fields

  • Replay of messages until they are released

5. Simple debug and refactoring

  • Messages have full provenance and actor chain upon exception

  • Test framework supports automated regression test construction for refactor

  • Fuzz testing based on message pipes definitions

  • Generative contract testing based on behavior definitions for stages

6. Static memory allocations

  • No need to release memory and no GC

  • Simplify memory usage analysis of the application

  • Minimize runtime failures, including out of memory

7. Copy preferred over lock usage

  • No stalled cores, block free, wait free, continuous progress

  • Efficient power usage

  • Leverages new fast memory subsystems

  • Enables efficient NUMA usage

8. Sequential memory usage

  • Leverages CPU pre-fetch and caches for fastest possible throughput

  • Persistence and immediate start up for free with non-volatile memory

  • All media is sequential, mechanical sympathy

  • Maximum use of hardware bandwidth

9. Software sketches

  • Extensive requirements gathering put into a graph

  • Involve non-technical people in the early stages

  • Refine the design before making any commitments, or beginning iterations

10. Minimized deployed application

  • For embedded systems, only the needed applications and interfaces are deployed

  • Configuration is done at compile time

  • Ultra-small attack surface

  • Scales well in docker and cloud deployments

  • Targets absolute minimum resources consumed

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