The Yin and Yang of mutability

In the footsteps of Erik Stenman and Michal Muskala, let's explore another part of the BEAM VM. The two extremes of mutability: atomic counters and persistent terms were introduced without much ado, almost secretly in the patch release OTP 21.2. Via an example using them in an hdr histogram implementation, I'd like to explore their behaviour, caveats and limitations. And also show some benchmarks for scenarios when "you have to measure".

THIS TALK IN THREE WORDS

Mutability

OBJECTIVES

Insight into these two small but exciting features of the BEAM.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Everyone with a bit of interest in the BEAM.