BEAM and Erlang Runtime System

A deep tutorial on the BEAM interpreter, the scheduler loop, and how memory allocation works. Erik Stenman walks through the internals of the Erlang Virtual Machine.

Format: Full-day tutorial

Course outline:

• Processes — how they are represented in memory, the PCB, the stack and heap and tagging, how message passing is implemented, tools for inspecting processes
• The compiler — options, how to inspect generated code, the BEAM instruction set and BEAM modules, the BEAM interpreter/VM, native code through HiPE, tools for tracing and profiling
• The scheduler — the scheduler loop, the ready queue, timing wheels, ports, flags for controlling the scheduler
• Memory — how the GC works, how memory allocation works, flags and tweaks for memory, memory profiling tools