Summary
This project aims to develop network/IPC capabilities for the a Haskell actor library troupe, using ocap-based protocols. This would enable modern, secure, and efficient communication in distributed systems.
The protocols are OCapN and Syndicate - both related to CapTP, but different in focus (RPC vs sharing state).
The result will be a set of packages for protocol implementations, their integrations into the actor framework, and a set of demonstration environments. To get more momentum behind the project we will provide starter projects and guix/nix environments. Finally, we want to prepare to conduct a workshop on making distributed applications.
Context
Three evolving technologies can contribute to the development of the Haskell actor library:
- Troupe: A new iteration of the actor framework for Haskell. The previous attempt in form of Cloud Haskell had a well-documented model and achieved production use, but the consensus was that the resulting system ended up too complex. The focus now lies on intra-process organization, leaving network communication out of scope. This is where we pick up and provide the complementary part.
- Spritely: Inter-actor communication based on object capabilities, designed for a wide ecosystem of services, and a continuation of the CapTP protocol/framework.
- Syndicate: Also, an ocap-based actor framework, but with primary concern in task-oriented data sharing.
Project Opportunity
We propose developing support libraries for OCapN and Syndicate protocols, then integrating them with the Troupe library, thus allowing actors to cooperatively solve tasks in a wider environment. Implementing both Spritely and Syndicate simultaneously will bridge the gap between action and knowledge networks.
Expected Benefits
- Haskell developers will gain access to a modern actor framework with secure RPC.
- Spritely will receive a new, parallel implementation in another language, providing an opportunity to verify protocol descriptions, compatibility, and community mechanisms.
- Syndicate will allow a direct comparison of the two approaches, their strengths, and weaknesses. A simultaneous implementation may reveal opportunities for unification into a single standard.
- Application developers will have a unified local/remote actor model, with a multilingual ecosystem of services, built-in PubSub without brokers, and a widely applicable network model.
- Users will benefit from trustworthy network communication implementation, applications working in Friend-to-Friend networks, and other mesh networks and applications that can discover their instances and synchronize.
Expected Results
- A set of packages implementing the protocols and integrating them with Troupe.
- Test bench for the Haskell parts.
- Demo environment for working with Spritely.
- Demo environment for working with Syndicate.
- A cookbook for actor-based applications.
- A workshop covering the entire project.
Why Us?
We have a serendipitous combination of experience for the project: having developed and deployed Cloud Haskell products, implemented libraries and tools for bridging the GNUnet services, and participated in a ocap-based microkernel OS development. Also, we are huge fans of P2P building blocks like CRDTs and mesh networks.