SinkInt

SinkInt is a conceptual abstraction in streaming data processing that defines a sink specialized for integer inputs. It describes a component that consumes a continuous sequence of integer values and produces a result set or statistics, such as sums, counts, or histograms. The term is used in theoretical discussions and in lightweight implementations within data pipelines.

Interfaces typically expose a method to submit integers, such as accept(n) or push(n), and a mechanism to finalize or flush results. Many designs support backpressure to prevent unbounded buffering and offer thread-safety or synchronization options. Sinks may buffer inputs and compute aggregates incrementally to minimize latency.

Common sink variants include a sum sink that maintains the running total, a count sink that tracks the number of events, and distribution sinks like min, max, or histogram sinks. Some implementations support windowing, allowing separate aggregates over fixed or sliding windows.

Use cases include real-time analytics dashboards, monitoring systems, IoT data ingestion, and any pipeline that requires compact, incremental processing of integer streams. SinkInt patterns are often used in conjunction with producers and processors in stream-processing frameworks.

Origin and status: SinkInt is not a formal standard; it appears as a pattern in literature and open-source projects as a practical abstraction for integer data sinks. While implementations vary, the core idea is to provide a consistent interface for consuming integers and producing aggregates.