Chapter 1. Reactive programming

The reactive programming paradigm has gained increasing popularity in recent years as a model that aims to simplify the implementation of event-driven applications and the execution of asynchronous code. Reactive programming concentrates on the propagation of changes and their effects—simply put, how to react to changes and create data flows that depend on them.^[1]

¹ This book is about reactive programming and not about functional reactive programming (FRP). FRP can operate on continuous time, whereas Rx can operate only on discrete points of time. More info can be found at the FRP creator’s keynote, http://mng.bz/TcB6.

1.1. Being reactive

1.2. Introducing Reactive Extensions

1.3. Working with reactive systems and the Reactive Manifesto

1.4. Understanding asynchronicity

1.5. Understanding events and streams

1.6. Summary