Blocking vs Non-Blocking
Blocking vs non-blocking is a fundamental concept in computer science and software development that describes how operations, particularly I/O (input/output) or system calls, are handled in a program. Blocking operations pause the execution of a program until the operation completes, while non-blocking operations allow the program to continue executing other tasks concurrently, often using mechanisms like callbacks, promises, or event loops to handle results later.
Developers should understand this concept to design efficient, responsive applications, especially in I/O-heavy or networked environments like web servers, databases, or real-time systems. For example, using non-blocking I/O in Node.js prevents the server from stalling during file reads or network requests, improving scalability and user experience by handling multiple connections simultaneously without blocking threads.