How to Use the Actor Model in Rust (actix, xtra)

Use the actix or xtra crates to define actors as structs implementing message handlers, then spawn them in a runtime to process messages asynchronously.

use actix::prelude::*;

struct MyActor;

impl Actor for MyActor {
    type Context = Context<Self>;
}

impl Handler<String> for MyActor {
    type Result = ();
    fn handle(&mut self, msg: String, _ctx: &mut Self::Context) {
        println!("Received: {}", msg);
    }
}

fn main() {
    let sys = System::new();
    let addr = MyActor.start();
    addr.do_send("Hello Actor".to_string());
    sys.run().unwrap();
}

The Actor Model lets you build programs where independent pieces (actors) talk to each other by sending messages instead of sharing data directly. This prevents crashes caused by multiple parts trying to change the same data at once. Think of it like a team where everyone writes notes to a shared board instead of shouting over each other.