Message passing

Message passing is a communication model in which components interact by sending and receiving discrete messages. It lets components coordinate without sharing the same memory.

Actor model: A concurrency model in which actors communicate through asynchronous messages and keep their state private. It makes message passing the sole means of coordination between stateful components.
Concurrency: The execution of multiple tasks during overlapping periods, whether or not they run simultaneously. Message passing is a common way to coordinate concurrent tasks without shared-memory access.
Inter-process communication: Mechanisms that let separate processes exchange data and coordinate their activity. Message passing is a standard way for processes to communicate while keeping separate memory.
Shared memory: A memory region accessible to multiple processors or processes for reading and writing shared data. Unlike message passing, shared memory coordinates components through common state.
Message queue: A data structure or service that stores messages until consumers retrieve them. Queues decouple sending from receiving, allowing components to proceed at different times.
Distributed system: A collection of independent computers that coordinate to provide a unified service. Messages connect components whose state and execution are spread across machines.
Message-oriented middleware: Software that enables applications to exchange messages through queues, topics, or related services. Middleware provides reusable messaging services between independently developed applications.
Remote method invocation: A mechanism for invoking methods on objects located in another process or machine. It hides message exchange behind object-method calls, unlike explicit messaging.
Remote procedure call: A protocol that lets a program invoke an operation on another process or machine as if calling a local procedure. It presents communication as a call-and-return interaction rather than explicit message exchange.
Network protocol: A set of rules governing how devices or processes format and exchange data. Protocols define how messages are addressed, encoded, and interpreted across boundaries.

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