RxNET

RxNET, or Reactive Extensions for .NET, is a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs using observable sequences. In RxNET, an observable sequence represents a push-based collection that can emit zero or more values, followed by either completion or an error. Observers subscribe to these sequences to receive notifications, and subscriptions can be canceled via dispose mechanisms.

The core publishing and subscribing model revolves around two interfaces: IObservable<T> and IObserver<T>. IObservable<T> exposes the ability to subscribe, while IObserver<T> defines the handlers for next values, errors, and completion. Operators such as Select, Where, Merge, Zip, CombineLatest, Debounce, and Throttle enable declarative transformations, filtering, merging, and timing of streams in a LINQ-like fashion. The Subscribe method returns an IDisposable, allowing consumers to unsubscribe and release resources.

RxNET provides schedulers to control concurrency and threading, enabling work to be executed on specific contexts such as the thread pool, a dedicated background thread, or a UI dispatcher. Observables can be cold (subscribers trigger the sequence) or hot (signals may be produced independently of subscriptions). RxNET emphasizes composition and time-based querying, though it does not impose backpressure; developers typically manage pacing with operators like Buffer or Window.

Historically developed by Microsoft for .NET, Reactive Extensions were later open-sourced and are now maintained by the .NET community. The library is distributed via NuGet, commonly as the System.Reactive package, and serves as the foundation for related projects such as ReactiveUI. RxNET is widely used for event handling, complex asynchronous streams, real-time data processing, and integrating disparate asynchronous sources in desktop, web, and mobile applications. See also reactive programming, IObservable, and LINQ.

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