In recent times, the word Reactive has gained popularity far and wide. We can see this word in all IT books, magazines, blogs, tutorials, videos on YouTube, and so on.
Almost all programming languages, tools, IDEs, and platforms already support the Reactive architecture and the rest will move to it soon.
Here are some terms that are commonly heard in the Reactive world:
- Reactive, Reactiveness, Reactive Manifesto, and Reactive Streams
- Reactive programming (RP), Function Reactive Programming (FRP), OOP RP, Imperative RP, and Reactive Engine
- Reactive system, Reactive applications, Reactive microservices, and Reactive Web Applications
- Reactive Architecture, Reactive Design Patterns, and Reactive principles
- Reactive tools, Reactive Platform, and Lightbend Reactive Platform
- Reactive Extensions (Rx)—Rx Scala, Rx Java, Scala, Akka, Play Framework
- Java Reactive API and Spring Reactor project
Are you really curious to know what Reactive is? Do you have the following questions and more in your mind—What is Reactive programming? Why do we need it? How do we write RP? Why is FP good for RP? What are the benefits of RP?
If yes, this book is for you. I'll introduce you to the Reactive World in a simple and easy way. I like a Diagram/Example-driven approach to learn new concepts and I feel you will like it too.
We can develop Reactive applications using a wide variety of languages or technologies. However, we will use Lightbend Reactive Platform in this book to develop our Reactive microservices.
Welcome to the Reactive World! Let's understand the Reactive World now. In this chapter, we will discuss the following topics:
- What is Reactive? What is RP and FRP? What are the benefits of RP?
- What is the Reactive Manifesto and what are its main goals?
- Why is FP the best fit for RP?
- What is the Java Reactive Streams API?
- A discussion on the Flow API
- What are Reactive Extensions?
- What is the difference between Reactive and Observer Design Patterns?
- What are RP Operators?
- Marble diagrams for RP Operators
