Message

Message in its most general meaning is the object of communication. Depending on the context, the term may apply to both the information contents and its actual presentation.

Related Topics:
Communication - Information

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In the communications discipline, a message is information which is sent from a source to a receiver. Some common definitions include:

Related Topics:
Communications - Information - Source - Receiver

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• Any thought or idea expressed briefly in a plain or secret language, prepared in a form suitable for transmission by any means of communication.
• An arbitrary amount of information whose beginning and end are defined or implied.
• Record information, a stream of data expressed in plain or encrypted language (notation) and prepared in a format specified for intended transmission by a telecommunications system.

In computing, and more particularly in distributed communication, a message is a data item that is asynchronously sent from one process or thread or endpoint to another process or thread or endpoint.

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In the Actor model a message is similarly an Actor itself that is sent asynchronously from one Actor to another.

Related Topics:
Actor model - Message

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In languages such as Smalltalk-80 and Objective-C an instance of a class method is called (confusingly) a message.

Related Topics:
Smalltalk - Objective-C - Message

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See also: Instant messaging, Message Oriented Middleware

Related Topics:
Instant messaging - Message Oriented Middleware

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