Noiwhile

Noiwhile is a programming construct used in the fictional programming language Noi. It provides a non-blocking form of iteration intended for asynchronous workflows, allowing code to express loops that yield control to an event loop rather than occupying a thread.

The name Noiwhile derives from the language name and the standard while loop concept. It was introduced in the Noi language reference by the development collective at Noivortex in 2017 as part of the Noi 2.0 release.

Noiwhile is written as noiwhile (condition) { body }. In its non-blocking variant, the body is executed in bounded steps and after each step yields to the scheduler, allowing other tasks to run. The loop continues while the condition remains true, and termination is determined by the evaluated condition.

Noiwhile is designed to integrate with the Noi runtime's asynchronous primitives, such as futures and promises, and with backpressure-aware streaming libraries. It aims to reduce blocking behavior in I/O-heavy applications, making it suitable for servers and user interfaces that require responsiveness.

As a language-level construct, noiwhile relies on the runtime's scheduler to split work into micro-steps. Critics note added complexity in reasoning about control flow, while proponents highlight clearer intent for non-blocking loops. Adoption has been niche, concentrated in projects using Noi.

See also: While loop, asynchronous programming, event loop, Noi language.