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doc: add topic - event loop, timers, nextTick()

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Adds a new topic that provides an overview of the event loop, timers, and
`process.nextTick()` that is based upon a NodeSource "Need to Node" presentation
hosted by @trevnorris: Event Scheduling and the Node.js Event
Loop (https://nodesource.com/resources).

PR-URL: #4936
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <jasnell@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Calvin W. Metcalf <calvin.metcalf@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Matteo Collina <matteo.collina@gmail.com>
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Jeff Harris 2016-04-08 11:11:58 -07:00 committed by Calvin Metcalf
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# The Node.js Event Loop, Timers, and `process.nextTick()`
## What is the Event Loop?
The event loop is what allows Node.js to perform non-blocking I/O
operations — despite the fact that JavaScript is single-threaded — by
offloading operations to the system kernel whenever possible.
Since most modern kernels are multi-threaded, they can handle multiple
operations executing in the background. When one of these operations
completes, the kernel tells Node.js so that the appropriate callback
may added to the `poll` queue to eventually be executed. We'll explain
this in further detail later in this topic.
## Event Loop Explained
When Node.js starts, it initializes the event loop, processes the
provided input script (or drops into the REPL, which is not covered in
this document) which may make async API calls, schedule timers, or call
`process.nextTick()`, then begins processing the event loop.
The following diagram shows a simplified overview of the event loop's
order of operations.
┌───────────────────────┐
┌─>│ timers │
│ └──────────┬────────────┘
│ ┌──────────┴────────────┐
│ │ I/O callbacks │
│ └──────────┬────────────┘
│ ┌──────────┴────────────┐
│ │ idle, prepare │
│ └──────────┬────────────┘ ┌───────────────┐
│ ┌──────────┴────────────┐ │ incoming: │
│ │ poll │<─────┤ connections, │
│ └──────────┬────────────┘ │ data, etc. │
│ ┌──────────┴────────────┐ └───────────────┘
│ │ check │
│ └──────────┬────────────┘
│ ┌──────────┴────────────┐
└──┤ close callbacks │
└───────────────────────┘
*note: each box will be referred to as a "phase" of the event loop.*
Each phase has a FIFO queue of callbacks to execute. While each phase is
special in its own way, generally, when the event loop enters a given
phase, it will perform any operations specific to that phase, then
execute callbacks in that phase's queue until the queue has been
exhausted or the maximum number of callbacks have executed. When the
queue has been exhausted or the callback limit is reached, the event
loop will move to the next phase, and so on.
Since any of these operations may schedule _more_ operations and new
events processed in the `poll` phase are queued by the kernel, poll
events can be queued while polling events are being processed. As a
result, long running callbacks can allow the poll phase to run much
longer than a timer's threshold. See the [`timers`](#timers) and
[`poll`](#poll) sections for more details.
_**NOTE:** There is a slight discrepancy between the Windows and the
Unix/Linux implementation, but that's not important for this
demonstration. The most important parts are here. There are actually
seven or eight steps, but the ones we care about — ones that Node.js
actually uses are those above._
## Phases Overview:
* `timers`: this phase executes callbacks scheduled by `setTimeout()`
and `setInterval()`.
* `I/O callbacks`: most types of callback except timers, setImmedate, close
* `idle, prepare`: only used internally
* `poll`: retrieve new I/O events; node will block here when appropriate
* `check`: setImmediate callbacks are invoked here
* `close callbacks`: e.g socket.on('close', ...)
Between each run of the event loop, Node.js checks if it is waiting for
any asynchronous I/O or timer and it shuts down cleanly if there are not
any.
## Phases in Detail
### timers
A timer specifies the **threshold** _after which_ a provided callback
_may be executed_ rather than the **exact** time a person _wants it to
be executed_. Timers callbacks will run as early as they can be
scheduled after the specified amount of time has passed; however,
Operating System scheduling or the running of other callbacks may delay
them.
_**Note**: Technically, the [`poll` phase](#poll) controls when timers
are executed._
For example, say you schedule a timeout to execute after a 100 ms
threshold, then your script starts asynchronously reading a file which
takes 95 ms:
```js
var fs = require('fs');
function someAsyncOperation (callback) {
// let's assume this takes 95ms to complete
fs.readFile('/path/to/file', callback);
}
var timeoutScheduled = Date.now();
setTimeout(function () {
var delay = Date.now() - timeoutScheduled;
console.log(delay + "ms have passed since I was scheduled");
}, 100);
// do someAsyncOperation which takes 95 ms to complete
someAsyncOperation(function () {
var startCallback = Date.now();
// do something that will take 10ms...
while (Date.now() - startCallback < 10) {
; // do nothing
}
});
```
When the event loop enters the `poll` phase, it has an empty queue
(`fs.readFile()` has not completed) so it will wait for the number of ms
remaining until the soonest timer's threshold is reached. While it is
waiting 95 ms pass, `fs.readFile()` finishes reading the file and its
callback which takes 10 ms to complete is added to the `poll` queue and
executed. When the callback finishes, there are no more callbacks in the
queue, so the event loop will see that the threshold of the soonest
timer has been reached then wrap back to the `timers` phase to execute
the timer's callback. In this example, you will see that the total delay
between the timer being scheduled and its callback being executed will
be 105ms.
Note: To prevent the `poll` phase from starving the event loop, libuv
also has a hard maximum (system dependent) before it stops `poll`ing for
more events.
### I/O callbacks:
This phase executes callbacks for some system operations such as types
of TCP errors. For example if a TCP socket receives `ECONNREFUSED` when
attempting to connect, some \*nix systems want to wait to report the
error. This will be queued to execute in the `I/O callbacks` phase.
### poll:
The poll phase has two main functions:
1. Executing scripts for timers who's threshold has elapsed, then
2. Processing events in the `poll` queue.
When the event loop enters the `poll` phase _and there are no timers
scheduled_, one of two things will happen:
* _If the `poll` queue **is not empty**_, the event loop will iterate
through its queue of callbacks executing them synchronously until
either the queue has been exhausted, or the system-dependent hard limit
is reached.
* _If the `poll` queue is **empty**, one of two more things will
happen:
* If scripts have been scheduled by `setImmediate()`, the event loop
will end the `poll` phase and continue to the `check` phase to
execute those scheduled scripts.
* If scripts **have not** been scheduled by `setImmediate()`, the
event loop will wait for callbacks to be added to the queue, then
execute it immediately.
Once the `poll` queue is empty the event loop will check for timers
_whose time thresholds have been reached_. If one or more timers are
ready, the event loop will wrap back to the timers phase to execute
those timers' callbacks.
### `check`:
This phase allows a person to execute callbacks immediately after the
`poll` phase has completed. If the `poll` phase becomes idle and
scripts have been queued with `setImmediate()`, the event loop may
continue to the `check` phase rather than waiting.
`setImmediate()` is actually a special timer that runs in a separate
phase of the event loop. It uses a libuv API that schedules callbacks to
execute after the `poll` phase has completed.
Generally, as the code is executed, the event loop will eventually hit
the `poll` phase where it will wait for an incoming connection, request,
etc. However, after a callback has been scheduled with `setImmediate()`,
then the `poll` phase becomes idle, it will end and continue to the
`check` phase rather than waiting for `poll` events.
### `close callbacks`:
If a socket or handle is closed abruptly (e.g. `socket.destroy()`), the
`'close'` event will be emitted in this phase. Otherwise it will be
emitted via `process.nextTick()`.
## `setImmediate()` vs `setTimeout()`
`setImmediate` and `setTimeout()` are similar, but behave in different
ways depending on when they are called.
* `setImmediate()` is designed to execute a script once the current
`poll` phase completes.
* `setTimeout()` schedules a script to be run
after a minimum threshold in ms has elapsed.
The order in which they are execute varies depending on the context in
which they are called. If both are called in the main module then you
are bound to how fast your process go, which is impacted by other
programs running on your machine.
For example, if we run the following script which is not within a I/O
cycle (i.e. the main module), the order in which the two functions are
executed is non-deterministic as it is based upon how fast your process
goes (which is impacted by other programs running on your machine):
```js
// timeout_vs_immediate.js
setTimeout(function timeout () {
console.log('timeout');
},0);
setImmediate(function immediate () {
console.log('immediate');
});
```
$ node timeout_vs_immediate.js
timeout
immediate
$ node timeout_vs_immediate.js
immediate
timeout
However, if you move the two calls within an I/O cycle, the immediate
callback is always executed first:
```js
// timeout_vs_immediate.js
var fs = require('fs')
fs.readFile(__filename, () => {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('timeout')
}, 0)
setImmediate(() => {
console.log('immediate')
})
})
```
$ node timeout_vs_immediate.js
immediate
timeout
$ node timeout_vs_immediate.js
immediate
timeout
The main advantage to using `setImmediate()` over `setTimeout()` is
`setImmediate()` will always be executed before any timers if scheduled
within an I/O cycle, independently of how many timers are present.
## `process.nextTick()`:
### Understanding `process.nextTick()`
You may have noticed that `process.nextTick()` was not displayed in the
diagram, even though its a part of the asynchronous API. This is because
`process.nextTick()` is not technically part of the event loop. Instead,
the nextTickQueue will be processed after the current operation
completes, regardless of the current `phase` of the event loop.
Looking back at our diagram, any time you call `process.nextTick()` in a
given phase, all callbacks passed to `process.nextTick()` will be
resolved before the event loop continues. This can create some bad
situations because **it allows you to "starve" your I/O by making
recursive `process.nextTick()` calls.** which prevents the event loop
from reaching the `poll` phase.
### Why would that be allowed?
Why would something like this be included in Node.js? Part of it is a
design philosophy where an API should always be asynchronous even where
it doesn't have to be. Take this code snippet for example:
```js
function apiCall (arg, callback) {
if (typeof arg !== 'string')
return process.nextTick(callback,
new TypeError('argument should be string'));
}
```
The snippet does an argument check and if it's not correct, it will pass
the error to the callback. The API updated fairly recently to allow
passing arguments to `process.nextTick()` allowing it to take any
arguments passed after the callback to be propagated as the arguments to
the callback so you don't have to nest functions.
What we're doing is passing an error back to the user but only *after*
we have allowed the rest of the user's code to execute. By using
`process.nextTick()` we guarantee that `apiCall()` always runs its
callback *after* the rest of the user's code and *before* the event loop
is allowed to proceed. To acheive this, the JS call stack is allowed to
unwind then immediately execute the provided callback which allows a
person to make recursive calls to nextTick without reaching a
`RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded from v8`.
This philosophy can lead to some potentially problematic situations.
Take this snippet for example:
```js
// this has an asynchronous signature, but calls callback synchronously
function someAsyncApiCall (callback) { callback(); };
// the callback is called before `someAsyncApiCall` completes.
someAsyncApiCall(() => {
// since someAsyncApiCall has completed, bar hasn't been assigned any value
console.log('bar', bar); // undefined
});
var bar = 1;
```
The user defines `someAsyncApiCall()` to have an asynchronous signature,
actually operates synchronously. When it is called, the callback
provided to `someAsyncApiCall ()` is called in the same phase of the
event loop because `someAsyncApiCall()` doesn't actually do anything
asynchronously. As a result, the callback tries to reference `bar` but
it may not have that variable in scope yet because the script has not
been able to run to completion.
By placing it in a `process.nextTick()`, the script still has the
ability to run to completion, allowing all the variables, functions,
etc., to be initialized prior to the callback being called. It also has
the advantage of not allowing the event loop to continue. It may be
useful that the user be alerted to an error before the event loop is
allowed to continue.
A real world example in node would be:
```js
const server = net.createServer(() => {}).listen(8080);
server.on('listening', () => {});
```
When only a port is passed the port is bound immediately. So the
`'listening'` callback could be called immediately. Problem is that the
`.on('listening')` will not have been set by that time.
To get around this the `'listening'` event is queued in a `nextTick()`
to allow the script to run to completion. Which allows the user to set
any event handlers they want.
## `process.nextTick()` vs `setImmediate()`
We have two calls that are similar as far as users are concerned, but
their names are confusing.
* `process.nextTick()` fires immediately on the same phase
* `setImmediate()` fires on the following iteration or 'tick' of the
event loop
In essence, the names should be swapped. `process.nextTick()` fires more
immediately than `setImmediate()` but this is an artifact of the past
which is unlikely to change. Making this switch would break a large
percentage of the packages on npm. Every day more new modules are being
added, which mean every day we wait, more potential breakages occur.
While they are confusing, the names themselves won't change.
*We recommend developers use `setImmediate()` in all cases because its
easier to reason about (and it leads to code that's compatible with a
wider variety of environments, like browser JS.)*
## Why use `process.nextTick()`?
There are two main reasons:
1. Allow users to handle errors, cleanup any then unneeded resources, or
perhaps try the request again before the event loop continues.
2. At times it's necessary to allow a callback to run after the call
stack has unwound but before the event loop continues.
One example is to match the user's expectations. Simple example:
```js
var server = net.createServer();
server.on('connection', function(conn) { });
server.listen(8080);
server.on('listening', function() { });
```
Say that listen() is run at the beginning of the event loop, but the
listening callback is placed in a `setImmediate()`. Now, unless a
hostname is passed binding to the port will happen immediately. Now for
the event loop to proceed it must hit the `poll` phase, which means
there is a non-zero chance that a connection could have been received
allowing the connection event to be fired before the listening event.
Another example is running a function constructor that was to, say,
inherit from `EventEmitter` and it wanted to call an event within the
constructor:
```js
const EventEmitter = require('events');
const util = require('util');
function MyEmitter() {
EventEmitter.call(this);
this.emit('event');
}
util.inherits(MyEmitter, EventEmitter);
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', function() {
console.log('an event occurred!');
});
```
You can't emit an event from the constructor immediately
because the script will not have processed to the point where the user
assigns a callback to that event. So, within the constructor itself,
you can use `process.nextTick()` to set a callback to emit the event
after the constructor has finished, which provides the expected results:
```js
const EventEmitter = require('events');
const util = require('util');
function MyEmitter() {
EventEmitter.call(this);
// use nextTick to emit the event once a handler is assigned
process.nextTick(function () {
this.emit('event');
}.bind(this));
}
util.inherits(MyEmitter, EventEmitter);
const myEmitter = new MyEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', function() {
console.log('an event occurred!');
});
```