Does Erlang automatically allocate threads for multiple cores and multiple processors?

Question

As Erlang threads do not share state, it would make sense for Erlang/OTP to automatically take advantage of any extra cores and processors a machine might have. Is this true?

I believe [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/605631/113848) is still accurate. — legoscia, Feb 11 '13 at 15:24

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 11 '13 at 18:43

Yes the standard Erlang VM will distribute processes across all the cores in a system. In general the number of running processes will be much greater then the number of cores so this works well. In addition the VM is optimised to hold up well under heavy load so you can really push a lot of work across it.

The Erlang on Xen VM will only use a single VM but assumes that you will distribute across cores by use of the Xen Hypervisor (this is a new experimental VM)

Does Erlang automatically allocate threads for multiple cores and multiple processors?

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