Channels

A channel is like a queue (values can be sent/received), but additionally channels support:

• completion (a source can be done)

• downstream error propagation

• selecting exactly one channel clause to complete, where clauses include send and receive operations

Creating a channel is a light-weight operation:

import ox.channels.*
val c = Channel.bufferedDefault[String]

This uses the default buffer size (16). It’s also possible to create channels with other buffer sizes, as well as rendezvous or unlimited channels:

import ox.channels.*
val c1 = Channel.rendezvous[String]
val c2 = Channel.buffered[String](5)
val c3 = Channel.unlimited[String]

In rendezvous channels, a sender and receiver must “meet” to exchange a value. Hence, .send always blocks, unless there’s another thread waiting on a .receive. In buffered channels, .send only blocks when the buffer is full. In an unlimited channel, sending never blocks.

Channels implement two traits: Source and Sink.