Reactive Extensions
Reactive Extensions (Rx) is a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs using observable sequences. It provides a set of operators to query, transform, and combine data streams in a declarative manner, enabling developers to handle complex asynchronous workflows with ease. Originally developed by Microsoft for .NET, it has been ported to multiple languages including JavaScript (RxJS), Java (RxJava), and Python (RxPY).
Developers should learn Reactive Extensions when building applications that involve real-time data processing, such as UI event handling, network requests, or IoT sensor data streams, as it simplifies managing asynchronous operations and concurrency. It is particularly useful in scenarios requiring complex data transformations, error handling, and backpressure management in reactive programming paradigms, often used in modern web and mobile apps with frameworks like Angular or React.