Evolution of Reactive Streams API for Context-Aware Mobile Applications

Abstract

This article describes the role of reactive streams concept as a core communication pattern in mobile-first applications and proposes directions for evolution of its classic API to better match mobile application requirements. By designing the selected examples of mobile applications, the authors evaluate the Reactive Streams API which is an increasingly accepted standard for asynchronous communication with back-pressure. This design is then assessed with regard to solution expressiveness and the ability to satisfy functional and non-functional requirements of the stated problems. It is observed that the used API does not allow for a context propagation from a mobile subscriber to a publisher so that the streamed data can be well adjusted to the variable reception context of a given mobile device. To address this issues, a context-aware variant of this API is proposed and it is demonstrated and discussed by presenting an alternative application design.