Contrasting ideas helps me see what’s special about each idea and what they have in common but maybe in different forms. Different tools, different languages show off different ideas, and while some work best with specific language features there’s always something to help in other languages in my day-job. So today I’ve been thinking about some models of concurrent programming. The Coursera course on Reactive Programming explored the Actor model and I’m contrasting that with the Active Object pattern from POSA2 which I saw in detail in another Coursera course last year and with Tasks which have quickly become one…