Learning Ratpack

Chapter 10. Reactive Programming in Ratpack

No conversation on Ratpack would be complete without a discussion on its reactive and functional programming capabilities. Indeed, at its core, Ratpack employs reactive programming strategies to provide the framework-level features for which you are already familiar. Indirectly, you have already been exposed to some of its reactive programming paradigms. This chapter will serve to further round out your understanding of how Ratpack utilizes reactive and functional programming, and how you can leverage the mechanisms it provides in your own applications.

This chapter does not provide exhaustive coverage of all reactive programming paradigms, for this subject is gross and expansive in its own right. Instead, we will cover the capabilities offered to you by Ratpack and its host of framework features that serve as the underpinnings for building robust reactive systems. Generally speaking, most Ratpack applications can be built in entirety without the developer ever having to think about the fact that they are writing reactive code. This is one of the many strong suits to Ratpack’s easy-to-understand API; however, when the need arises for more complex reactive implementations, the capabilities are there, and Ratpack will support you through your development process.

Overview of Reactive Programming

The conversation of reactive programming has become a hot topic in the JVM space within just the last few years. Other languages have long since ...