nearnonblocking

Nearnonblocking is a term that describes a software design pattern or a specific implementation approach in programming. It refers to code or operations that are designed to avoid blocking the main thread of execution for an extended period. While not strictly non-blocking, which would imply an immediate return or a guarantee of no waiting, near-nonblocking operations aim to minimize or significantly reduce the time spent waiting.

This approach is often employed in scenarios where responsiveness is critical, such as in graphical user interfaces (GUIs), network servers, or real-time systems. By making operations near-nonblocking, the application can continue to process other tasks, respond to user input, or handle concurrent requests without becoming unresponsive.

Techniques used to achieve near-nonblocking behavior include asynchronous programming, using callbacks, promises, async/await syntax, or employing separate threads or processes to perform long-running operations. The goal is to offload potentially blocking work so that the main execution flow can proceed.

The key distinction between truly non-blocking and near-nonblocking lies in the possibility of a brief, unavoidable wait. For instance, a near-nonblocking I/O operation might still need to wait for a small buffer to fill or drain, but this wait is intentionally kept short. This contrasts with a fully blocking operation, which could hold up the entire thread indefinitely. In essence, near-nonblocking seeks to be "good enough" for most practical purposes where absolute non-blocking is overly complex or unnecessary.