erlang-otp-behaviors

A gen_server implements a stateful server by defining callback modules for handling client-server requests and maintaining internal state. This OTP pattern provides standardized API usage, lifecycle management, and reliable stateful services for Erlang production systems.

An Erlang supervisor provides fault tolerance by building process trees and automatically recovering crashed child processes. This OTP behavior ensures system reliability by restarting failed processes according to configured supervision strategies within production applications.

Use gen_statem for complex state machines requiring explicit state transitions beyond simple gen_server callback models. This OTP behavior handles intricate event processing and defined state changes, making it suited for managed event processors and complex stateful logic.

Best practices for OTP application packaging involve using application behavior to structure systems into supervised process trees. This ensures production reliability through standardized lifecycle callbacks, fault-tolerant subsystems, and proper application behavior implementation for Erlang applications.

Understanding OTP behaviors like gen_server, gen_statem, and supervisors is essential for building fault-tolerant Erlang apps. These patterns provide the lifecycle callbacks, automatic recovery, and process isolation required to implement robust, scalable production systems.