Java – how does akka handle message versions?

How does akka handle serialization of different versions of messages of the same type but different versions? For example, can actor x expecting version 1 of message a receive and process version 2 of message a from actor y with additional fields? How does it handle situations where version 3 of message a may have deleted or renamed fields?

Solution

This depends on the serializer used Akka has configurable serialization, so you have many options (see documentation: http://doc.akka.io/docs/akka/2.1.0/scala/serialization.html ).

In general, it is recommended to use serializers to enable you to design backward and forward compatibility, such as protobuf