Nondblock

Nondblock is a neologism used in some discussions of distributed systems and blockchain design. It denotes a hypothetical paradigm or data-structural approach that blends non-blocking concurrency with a block-based data organization, with the aim of reducing global blocking in transaction processing and improving scalability. As of now, there is no formal standard defining nondblock, and its precise meaning varies across sources.

The term combines non-blocking and block and has appeared primarily in online forums, speculative blogs, and informal design discussions. It is not associated with a widely adopted protocol or specification.

Conceptually, nondblock is described as enabling concurrent processing of transactions without relying on a single global lock, while preserving a block-like structure of data. Proponents suggest it could pair non-blocking primitives with block aggregation and some form of eventual or partial consensus to maintain data integrity. Critics argue that without a precise formal model, the concept remains vague and risks conflating existing ideas such as non-blocking databases or blockchain sharding.

Usage contexts include theoretical work on scalability, concurrency control, and distributed ledgers. In practice, nondblock has limited to no implementation history and is treated as an exploratory term rather than a defined technology.

See also: non-blocking algorithms, block, blockchain, distributed ledger technology, concurrency control, consensus.