16. A system to process log data, comprising: a communication interface; and a processor coupled to the communication interface and configured to: determine a parser definition associated with a set of log data; compile the parser definition to create an instance of a parser to parse the set of log data, wherein the parser has a hierarchical structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically related nodes, each of at least a subset of said nodes having associated therewith one or more actors each configured to parse data associated with that node; and send at least a portion of the set of log data to the parser instance prior to compilation of said parser instance being completed; wherein a first node of said parser instance is configured to receive and parse log data associated with the first node even if compilation of the parser definition has not been completed with respect to a second node of said parser instance.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the hierarchical structure of the parser corresponds to a hierarchical organization of said set of log data; wherein each node in the hierarchical structure of the parser is associated with a corresponding section comprising the set of log data; and wherein each of the respective actors at each of said at least a subset of said nodes comprising the parser is configured to parse the corresponding section of the set of log data that is associated with that node in parallel with the parsing by actors at the other of said at least a subset of said nodes of the respective sections of the set of log data associated with said other nodes.