Without reading the code I would guess in those cases a simple spawn was sufficient.
From looking at some of your threads here it sounds like you would benefit from reading a couple of Erlang books. In Elixir in Action (and I am sure many Erlang books cover similar) there is discussion about some of this. Here’s what I had written in my review:
Saša also covers much more than just the fundamentals of the language; after the basics you cover processes and OTP in quite some detail (and from what I’ve read so far, goes into more detail here than PE). You actually build your own server process before he introduces you to GenServers (which I felt was an excellent way to demystify them) - you’ll definitely leave feeling as though you have a fantastic insight into Elixir and Erlang!
I haven’t read it yet but I imagine Erlang and OTP in Action covers similar if not more. Books are incredibly useful in helping you get a good understanding of a language and what’s possible with them. You can even get 35% off using our discount code 