Re:Alan Kay's: Why is FP seen as the opposite of OOP rather ...
by elcritch on Monday March 26, 2018 @02:03AM
(#16676951)
Yes, actors in BEAM can modify files and there's a small bit of local state which can be set without messages (the process dictionary). However, much like Haskell you'd still need some point where real side effects could occur. It'd be possible to do all file actions via specific actors using messages which could then be modified to support "time-travel".
The result of having a time base universally embedded in all messages and object histories is that there is no 'global' system state. You can only look at the system at a specific snapshot, even while it may continue to evolve.