Getting Started with Reflow
Welcome to Reflow! This guide will help you get up and running with the actor-based workflow engine.
What You'll Learn
This getting started guide covers:
- Installation - Setting up Reflow on your system
- Basic Concepts - Understanding actors, messages, and workflows
- Development Setup - Setting up your development environment
- First Workflow - Creating your first workflow
Quick Overview
Reflow is an actor-based workflow engine that allows you to:
- Create actors that process data and communicate via messages
- Connect actors into workflows that define data flow and processing logic
- Execute workflows with multi-language support (JavaScript/Deno, Python, WASM)
- Deploy workflows natively or in WebAssembly environments
Prerequisites
Before getting started with Reflow, you should have:
- Rust (1.85 or later) - for building and running Reflow
- Basic understanding of concurrent programming concepts
- Familiarity with at least one of: JavaScript, Python, or Rust
Architecture at a Glance
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ Actor A │───▶│ Actor B │───▶│ Actor C │
│ (JavaScript)│ │ (Python) │ │ (Rust) │
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Message Bus & Routing │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Key Concepts
- Actor: An isolated unit of computation that processes messages
- Message: Data passed between actors
- Port: Input/output connections on actors
- Workflow: A graph of connected actors
- Runtime: The execution environment (Deno, Python, etc.)
Next Steps
- Start with Installation to set up Reflow
- Read Basic Concepts to understand the fundamentals
- Follow the First Workflow tutorial
- Explore the Examples for more complex use cases
Getting Help
- Check the Troubleshooting Guide
- Browse the API Reference
- Look at Examples for working code
- Open an issue on GitHub for bugs or feature requests
Ready to start? Let's install Reflow!