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Research Documentation

This section contains research and analysis documentation for AirsSys components.

Overview

The research documentation captures the design decisions, architectural explorations, and technical analyses that inform AirsSys component development.

RT (Actor Runtime) Research

BEAM Model Analysis

BEAM Model Analysis

In-depth analysis of the BEAM virtual machine's actor model, supervision patterns, and fault tolerance mechanisms that inspired airssys-rt.

Key topics: - BEAM virtual machine architecture - Process model and scheduling - Supervision tree patterns - Fault tolerance philosophy ("let it crash") - Message passing implementation

BEAM-Inspired Runtime

BEAM-Inspired Runtime Design

Exploration of how BEAM concepts translate to a Rust-native actor runtime.

Key topics: - Adapting BEAM patterns to Rust - Zero-cost abstractions vs. BEAM's dynamic approach - Ownership and borrowing in actor systems - Supervision strategies in Rust - Performance characteristics

Rust Actor Ecosystem

Rust Actor Ecosystem Analysis

Survey of existing Rust actor frameworks and how airssys-rt differentiates itself.

Key topics: - Actix: Production-proven actor framework - Tokio actors: Lightweight task-based approach - Bastion: Erlang-inspired supervision - Actor model implementations comparison - Design decisions for airssys-rt

Research Topics by Component

OSL Research

Research documentation for OSL is coming soon as the component matures.

Topics to be covered: - Cross-platform OS abstraction patterns - Security policy enforcement mechanisms - Middleware pipeline architectures - Audit logging strategies

RT Research

Completed research: - ✅ BEAM model analysis - ✅ BEAM-inspired runtime design - ✅ Rust actor ecosystem survey - ✅ Performance characteristics - ✅ Zero-cost abstraction patterns

Using Research Documentation

For Component Users

Research documentation helps you understand: - Why design decisions were made - What alternatives were considered - How components compare to similar systems - When to use specific patterns

For Contributors

Research documentation provides: - Context for architectural decisions - Rationale behind implementation choices - Background on problem domain - References to related work

Research Process

Our research process follows these principles:

  1. Problem Definition: Clearly state the problem being solved
  2. Survey Existing Solutions: Analyze existing approaches
  3. Design Exploration: Consider multiple design alternatives
  4. Prototype & Evaluate: Build prototypes and measure performance
  5. Documentation: Capture findings and rationale
  6. Iteration: Refine based on feedback and testing

Contributing Research

To contribute research documentation:

  1. Create research documents in markdown
  2. Include clear problem statements
  3. Analyze alternatives thoroughly
  4. Provide concrete examples
  5. Include performance data where relevant
  6. Reference related work

See Contributing Guide for details.

Additional Resources

External Research

Recommended reading for understanding AirsSys design:

Actor Model: - Carl Hewitt: "Actor Model of Computation" (1973) - Joe Armstrong: "Making Reliable Distributed Systems" (2003) - Gul Agha: "Actors: A Model of Concurrent Computation" (1986)

BEAM/Erlang: - Joe Armstrong: "Programming Erlang" (2nd ed, 2013) - Francesco Cesarini & Simon Thompson: "Erlang Programming" (2009) - BEAM Book: https://blog.stenmans.org/theBeamBook/

Rust Concurrency: - Jon Gjengset: "Rust for Rustaceans" (Chapter 9: Concurrency) - Aaron Turon: "Designing Futures for Rust" - Tokio Documentation: https://tokio.rs

Performance Studies

  • RT Benchmarking: See BENCHMARKING.md in airssys-rt
  • BEAM Performance: "Erlang Performance" papers
  • Actor System Benchmarks: Various actor framework comparisons

Next Steps