Dataflow and Reactive Programming Systems
Dataflow and Reactive Programming Systems
A Practical Guide to Developing Dataflow and Reactive Programming Systems
About the Book
Dataflow concepts are the heart of Reactive Programming, Flow-Based Programming (e.g. NoFlo), Unix pipes, Actors and message passing in general.
Dataflow-based systems are easy to design once you understand the large number of implementation details that could drastically change how the system operates. Understanding these vectors of change is important so you don’t waste your time developing the wrong system.
Embedded dataflow-like languages are used in a wide range of applications. Video games, web pages, circuit simulation and music production are just a few of the domains that have been using dataflow for years. Every one of those has a specialized dataflow engine designed for the task at hand. This book will help you understand the whole dataflow universe before starting your own system.
By the end of the book you will understand…
- All possible design choices with dataflow-like systems
- How their effects interplay
- How to develop your own dataflow-like system
Public domain source code of an example dataflow system will be available in many common languages once completed (ftp://DataflowBook.com).
About the Author
Bundles that include this book
Table of Contents
-
-
Special Thanks
- DSP Robotics
- ghostream
- Clean Code Developer School
- Synthetic Spheres
- ANKHOR Software GmbH
- vvvv
- Code Examples
-
1 Introduction
- 1.1 Overview of the Book
- 1.2 Reactive Programming is Dataflow
- 1.3 Von Neumann Architecture
- 1.4 Benefits of Dataflow
- 1.5 History
- 1.6 The Purpose of this Book
-
2 Dataflow Explained
- 2.1 Pipeline Dataflow
- 2.2 Nodes
- 2.3 Data
- 2.4 Arcs
- 2.5 Dataflow Graphs
- 2.6 Executing a Graph
-
2.7 Features of Dataflow Systems
- 2.7.1 Push or Pull Data
- 2.7.2 Mutable or Immutable Data
-
2.7.3 Static or Dynamic
- 2.7.3.1 Dynamic
- 2.7.3.2 Static
- 2.7.4 Functional or Stateful Nodes
-
2.7.5 Synchronous or Asynchronous Activation
- 2.7.5.1 Asynchronous
- 2.7.5.2 Synchronous
- 2.7.5.3 Hybrid
-
2.7.6 Multiple Inputs and/or Outputs
- 2.7.6.1 Multiple Inputs
- 2.7.6.2 Multiple Outputs
- 2.7.7 Fire Patterns
- 2.7.8 Cycles and Feedback
-
2.7.9 Recursion
- 2.7.9.1 Implementation of Recursive Nodes
-
2.7.10 Compound Nodes
- 2.7.10.1 Execution of Compound Nodes
- 2.7.10.2 Design of Compound Nodes
- 2.7.11 Arc Capacity > 1
- 2.7.12 Arc Joins and/or Splits
- 2.7.13 Multi-Rate Token Production and Consumption
-
2.8 Common Dataflow Nodes
- 2.8.1 Switch Node/ Choice Node
- 2.8.2 Merge Node/ Correlate Node/ Join Node
- 2.8.3 Distribute Node/ Splitter Node
- 2.8.4 Gate Node
- 2.8.5 Terminal Node
- 2.8.6 Source Node
- 2.8.7 Sink Node
-
2.9 Miscellaneous Topics
- 2.9.1 Granularity
- 2.9.2 When is it Done?
-
3 Actor Model
- 3.1 Summary of the Actor Model
- 3.2 Comparison to Object Oriented Programming
- 3.3 Relation to Dataflow
- 3.4 Dataflow Features
- 3.5 Where is the Actor Model Used?
- 3.6 Where is it Not Used?
-
4 Flow-Based Programming
- 4.1 Summary of Flow-Based Programming
- 4.2 Dataflow Features
- 4.3 Benefits of Flow-Based Programming
-
5 Communicating Sequential Processes
- 5.1 Summary of CSP
- 5.2 Message Passing Channels
- 5.3 Channels as a Concurrency Primitive
- 5.4 Channel Implementations
-
6 Implicit Dataflow
- 6.1 Unix Pipes
- 6.2 Sockets
- 6.3 Function
- 6.4 Manager Controlled Communication
- 6.5 Message Passing Channels
- 6.6 Feature Creep
-
7 Asynchronous Dataflow Implementation
- 7.1 Architecture Overview
- 7.2 Implementation Walk-Through
-
7.3 Main Data Types
- 7.3.1 Port Address
- 7.3.2 Data Token
- 7.3.3 Execute Token
- 7.3.4 Node
- 7.3.5 Node Definition
- 7.3.6 Arc
- 7.3.7 Fire Pattern
- 7.3.8 Token Store
- 7.3.9 Node Store
- 7.3.10 Arc Store
- 7.3.11 Dataflow Program
-
7.4 Implementation Components
- 7.4.1 IO Unit
- 7.4.2 Transmit Unit
- 7.4.3 Enable Unit
- 7.4.4 Execute Unit
- 7.5 Program Execution Example
- 7.6 Preparing a Program for Execution
- 7.7 Multiple Dataflow Engines
-
8 Synchronous Dataflow Implementation
- 8.1 Compilation
-
8.2 How to Build a Schedule
- 8.2.1 Label Nodes/Arcs and Token Rates
- 8.2.2 Create a Topology Matrix
- 8.2.3 Does a Schedule Exist?
- 8.2.4 Determine Initial Arc Capacities
- 8.2.5 Execution Simulation
- 8.2.6 Simulation Process Overview
-
8.2.7 Simulation Process in Detail
- 8.2.7.1 Step 1: Create a new activation matrix:
- 8.2.7.2 Step 2: Create an activation vector
- 8.2.7.3 Step 3: Create new Token and Fire Count Vectors
- 8.2.7.4 Step 4: Stop or Repeat
- 8.2.8 Analyze for Errors
- 8.2.9 Search for a Schedule
- 8.2.10 Test Schedule
- 8.3 Parallel Schedules
-
9 Dynamic Dataflow Implementation
- 9.1 Introduction
- 9.2 Overall Design
- 9.3 Features of this Design
- 9.4 Notation Convention
- 9.5 General Types
-
9.6 Nodes
- 9.6.1 Pipeline Node
- 9.6.2 PipelineNodeObject Methods
- 9.6.3 Developer Accessible Nodes
- 9.6.4 Primitive Node
- 9.6.5 PrimitiveNodeObject Methods:
- 9.6.6 Operation of a PimitiveNodeObject
- 9.6.7 Compound Nodes
- 9.6.8 CompoundNodeObject Methods
- 9.6.9 NodeClass and NodeObject
- 9.6.10 NodeObject Methods
- 9.7 Limitations:
- 9.8 Implementation Language Requirements:
-
Special Thanks
-
Appendix
- Glossary
-
Bibliography
- Important Books and Papers
- General
- Hardware
- Synchronous Dataflow
- Communicating Sequential Processes
- Actor Model
- Programming Languages
The Leanpub 60-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Do Well. Do Good.
Authors have earned$11,595,069writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
C++20 - The Complete Guide
Nicolai M. JosuttisAll new language and library features of C++20 (for those who know previous C++ versions).
The book presents all new language and library features of C++20. Learn how this impacts day-to-day programming, to benefit in practice, to combine new features, and to avoid all new traps.
Buy early, pay less, free updates.
Other books:
- #2
Jetpack Compose internals
Jorge CastilloJetpack Compose is the future of Android UI. Master how it works internally and become a more efficient developer with it. You'll also find it valuable if you are not an Android dev. This book provides all the details to understand how the Compose compiler & runtime work, and how to create a client library using them.
- #3
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #4
SignalR on .NET 6 - the Complete Guide
Fiodar SazanavetsLearn everything there is to learn about SignalR and how to integrate it with the latest .NET 6 and C# 10 features. Learn how to connect any type of client to SignalR, including plain WebSocket client. Learn how to build interactive applications that can communicate with each other in real time without making excessive calls.
- #5
R Programming for Data Science
Roger D. PengThis book brings the fundamentals of R programming to you, using the same material developed as part of the industry-leading Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization. The skills taught in this book will lay the foundation for you to begin your journey learning data science. Printed copies of this book are available through Lulu.
- #6
OpenIntro Statistics
David Diez, Christopher Barr, Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel, and OpenIntroA complete foundation for Statistics, also serving as a foundation for Data Science.
Leanpub revenue supports OpenIntro (US-based nonprofit) so we can provide free desk copies to teachers interested in using OpenIntro Statistics in the classroom and expand the project to support free textbooks in other subjects.
More resources: openintro.org.
- #7
Functional event-driven architecture: Powered by Scala 3
Gabriel VolpeExplore the event-driven architecture (EDA) in a purely functional way, mainly powered by Fs2 streams in Scala 3!
Leverage your functional programming skills by designing and writing stateless microservices that scale, powered by stateful message brokers.
- #8
The easiest way to learn design patterns
Fiodar SazanavetsLearn design patterns in the easiest way possible. You will no longer have to brute-force your way through each one of them while trying to figure out how it works. The book provides a unique methodology that will make your understanding of design patterns stick. It can also be used as a reference book where you can find design patterns in seconds.
- #9
CCIE Service Provider Version 4 Written and Lab Exam Comprehensive Guide
Nicholas RussoThe service provider landscape has changed rapidly over the past several years. Networking vendors are continuing to propose new standards, techniques, and procedures for overcoming new challenges while concurrently reducing costs and delivering new services. Cisco has recently updated the CCIE Service Provider track to reflect these changes; this book represents the author's personal journey in achieving that certification.
- #10
Cronache di Domain-Driven Design
Francesco Strazzullo, Matteo Baglini, Gianluca Padovani, Emanuele DelBono, Marco Consolaro, Alessandro Colla, Uberto Barbini, Alberto Acerbis, Julie Camosseto, DDD Open, and Alberto BrandoliniCronache di Domain-Driven Design: un libro corale in italiano fatto di storie indipendenti tra loro, che sono il risultato dell’applicazione di Domain-Driven Design su progetti reali.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
Practical FP in Scala + Functional event-driven architecture
2 Books
Practical FP in Scala (A hands-on approach) & Functional event-driven architecture, aka FEDA, (Powered by Scala 3), together as a bundle! The content of PFP in Scala is a requirement to understand FEDA so why not take advantage of this bundle!? - #3
All the Books of The Medical Futurist
6 Books
We put together the most popular books from The Medical Futurist to provide a clear picture about the major trends shaping the future of medicine and healthcare. Digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, the future of 20 medical specialties, big pharma, data privacy, digital health investments and how technology giants such as Amazon... - #4
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #6
Pattern-Oriented Memory Forensics and Malware Detection
2 Books
This training bundle for security engineers and researchers, malware and memory forensics analysts includes two accelerated training courses for Windows memory dump analysis using WinDbg. It is also useful for technical support and escalation engineers who analyze memory dumps from complex software environments and need to check for possible... - #7
Modern C++ Collection
3 Books
Get All about Modern C++C++ Standard Library, including C++20Concurrency with Modern C++, including C++20C++20Each book has about 200 complete code examples. Updates are included. When I update one of the books, you immediately get the updated bundle. You can expect significant updates to each new C++ standard (C++23, C++26, .. ) and also... - #9
Retromat eBook Bundle for Agile Retrospectives
2 Books
If you facilitate retrospectives this bundle is for you: "Plans for Retrospectives" helps beginners learn the lay of the land with tried-and-true plans. Once you know your way around, "Run great agile retrospectives" contains all 135+ activities in Retromat for you to mix and match.
