🥇SObjectizer-5.6.0: the new major version of the actor framework for C++

SObjectizer — is a relatively small framework for simplifying the development of complex multithreaded applications in C++. SObjectizer allows developers to build their programs based on asynchronous messaging using approaches like Actor Model, Publish-Subscribe, and CSP. This is an OpenSource project under the BSD-3-CLAUSE license. A brief impression of SObjectizer can be formed based on this presentation.

Version 5.6.0 is the first major release of the new SObjectizer-5.6 branch. This also signifies the end of the SObjectizer-5.5 branch, which has been in development for over four years.

Since version 5.6.0 opens a new chapter in the development of SObjectizer, there are no new features compared to what has been changed and/or removed from SObjectizer. Specifically:

C++17 is now used (previously it was a subset of C++11);
the project has moved and now resides on BitBucket, with an official, not experimental, mirror on GitHub,;
agents no longer have string names;
support for synchronous interaction between agents has been removed from SObjectizer (its equivalent is implemented in the accompanying project so5extra,);
support for ad-hoc agents has been removed;
for sending messages, only free functions send, send_delayed, send_periodic are now used (the old methods deliver_message, schedule_timer, single_timer from the public API have been withdrawn);
the send_delayed and send_periodic functions now have a unified format regardless of the message recipient type (whether it is mbox, mchain, or a reference to an agent);
a class message_holder_t has been added to simplify working with preallocated messages;
many items marked as deprecated in the 5.5 branch have been removed;
and various other changes.