Parallelism in JavaScript
Parallelism in JavaScript
Parallelism in JavaScript
Parallelism in JavaScript
Javier Ponce
Javier Ponce
Javier Ponce
Apr 29, 2020
Apr 29, 2020
Apr 29, 2020
As we already know, JavaScript is single-threaded, which means it can only execute one thing at a time. If we run expensive operations on it, we can easily block the Event Loop and the page might become unresponsive.
So, what if our project depends on running expensive operations like processing large arrays, image filtering, analyzing video or audio data?
Let me introduce you to Web Workers.
Web Workers are a means of running JavaScript code in background threads, this can give our application superpowers.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how to create our first Web Worker and how the Web Worker communicates with the main thread and vice-versa.
Communicating between them is done with event listeners and the postMessage function. Here is a quick example of how to get it working, take your time to analyze the code.
// main.js
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');
const data = 1;
worker.postMessage(data);
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
const result = event.data;
console.log(result); // Prints "2"
})// worker.js
const sumOne = number => number + 1;
addEventListener('message', event => {
const number = event.data;
const result = sumOne(number);
postMessage(result);
})As you can see, the message/data is being sent by the postMessage function and the worker is receiving the number with the event listener and sending a result back using its own postMessage function. In this case, we are only passing a number but, depending on the browser/version you can also pass a JSON object.
One thing we need to keep on mind is that Workers have limitations, they do not have access to:
The DOM
The
windowobjectThe
documentobjectThe
parentobject
If you need to constantly access them, Web Workers would not be the right solution. You may find it useful to take advantage of the Event Loop instead.
Practical example
Let’s say we have an expensive operation that takes 5 seconds to complete. If we run it using the main thread as we normally do, we are going to block the UI.
We can show that with the following visual example:
The page was fully responsive before running the operation.
One thing to keep in mind is that we have a performance budget of 16 milliseconds, our functions should not last more than that to have a nice fluid UI. Also, we should try to avoid having operations taking longer than 1 second because the users can lose focus on the tasks they are performing.
Result of using a Web Worker
If we use a Web Worker we will notice a huge difference, the operation can run in the background and the user can still interact with the web page.
Here is the code if you want to see how that was accomplished. I used a do-while loop to block the thread for illustrative purposes.
Single thread example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Single Thread example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
runExpensiveOperation(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Web Worker example
<html>
<head>
<title>Web Worker example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const worker = new Worker('doWork.js');
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
console.log(event.data);
})
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
const ms = 5000;
worker.postMessage(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>// doWork.js
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
addEventListener('message', event => {
const ms = event.data;
runExpensiveOperation(ms);
postMessage('Done');
})Conclusion
Web Workers are useful for operations that can potentially block the UI and don’t require to access the DOM constantly. If you need to constantly access the DOM, using setTimeout might be a better approach.
Found this useful or have questions?
As we already know, JavaScript is single-threaded, which means it can only execute one thing at a time. If we run expensive operations on it, we can easily block the Event Loop and the page might become unresponsive.
So, what if our project depends on running expensive operations like processing large arrays, image filtering, analyzing video or audio data?
Let me introduce you to Web Workers.
Web Workers are a means of running JavaScript code in background threads, this can give our application superpowers.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how to create our first Web Worker and how the Web Worker communicates with the main thread and vice-versa.
Communicating between them is done with event listeners and the postMessage function. Here is a quick example of how to get it working, take your time to analyze the code.
// main.js
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');
const data = 1;
worker.postMessage(data);
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
const result = event.data;
console.log(result); // Prints "2"
})// worker.js
const sumOne = number => number + 1;
addEventListener('message', event => {
const number = event.data;
const result = sumOne(number);
postMessage(result);
})As you can see, the message/data is being sent by the postMessage function and the worker is receiving the number with the event listener and sending a result back using its own postMessage function. In this case, we are only passing a number but, depending on the browser/version you can also pass a JSON object.
One thing we need to keep on mind is that Workers have limitations, they do not have access to:
The DOM
The
windowobjectThe
documentobjectThe
parentobject
If you need to constantly access them, Web Workers would not be the right solution. You may find it useful to take advantage of the Event Loop instead.
Practical example
Let’s say we have an expensive operation that takes 5 seconds to complete. If we run it using the main thread as we normally do, we are going to block the UI.
We can show that with the following visual example:
The page was fully responsive before running the operation.
One thing to keep in mind is that we have a performance budget of 16 milliseconds, our functions should not last more than that to have a nice fluid UI. Also, we should try to avoid having operations taking longer than 1 second because the users can lose focus on the tasks they are performing.
Result of using a Web Worker
If we use a Web Worker we will notice a huge difference, the operation can run in the background and the user can still interact with the web page.
Here is the code if you want to see how that was accomplished. I used a do-while loop to block the thread for illustrative purposes.
Single thread example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Single Thread example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
runExpensiveOperation(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Web Worker example
<html>
<head>
<title>Web Worker example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const worker = new Worker('doWork.js');
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
console.log(event.data);
})
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
const ms = 5000;
worker.postMessage(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>// doWork.js
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
addEventListener('message', event => {
const ms = event.data;
runExpensiveOperation(ms);
postMessage('Done');
})Conclusion
Web Workers are useful for operations that can potentially block the UI and don’t require to access the DOM constantly. If you need to constantly access the DOM, using setTimeout might be a better approach.
Found this useful or have questions?
As we already know, JavaScript is single-threaded, which means it can only execute one thing at a time. If we run expensive operations on it, we can easily block the Event Loop and the page might become unresponsive.
So, what if our project depends on running expensive operations like processing large arrays, image filtering, analyzing video or audio data?
Let me introduce you to Web Workers.
Web Workers are a means of running JavaScript code in background threads, this can give our application superpowers.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how to create our first Web Worker and how the Web Worker communicates with the main thread and vice-versa.
Communicating between them is done with event listeners and the postMessage function. Here is a quick example of how to get it working, take your time to analyze the code.
// main.js
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');
const data = 1;
worker.postMessage(data);
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
const result = event.data;
console.log(result); // Prints "2"
})// worker.js
const sumOne = number => number + 1;
addEventListener('message', event => {
const number = event.data;
const result = sumOne(number);
postMessage(result);
})As you can see, the message/data is being sent by the postMessage function and the worker is receiving the number with the event listener and sending a result back using its own postMessage function. In this case, we are only passing a number but, depending on the browser/version you can also pass a JSON object.
One thing we need to keep on mind is that Workers have limitations, they do not have access to:
The DOM
The
windowobjectThe
documentobjectThe
parentobject
If you need to constantly access them, Web Workers would not be the right solution. You may find it useful to take advantage of the Event Loop instead.
Practical example
Let’s say we have an expensive operation that takes 5 seconds to complete. If we run it using the main thread as we normally do, we are going to block the UI.
We can show that with the following visual example:
The page was fully responsive before running the operation.
One thing to keep in mind is that we have a performance budget of 16 milliseconds, our functions should not last more than that to have a nice fluid UI. Also, we should try to avoid having operations taking longer than 1 second because the users can lose focus on the tasks they are performing.
Result of using a Web Worker
If we use a Web Worker we will notice a huge difference, the operation can run in the background and the user can still interact with the web page.
Here is the code if you want to see how that was accomplished. I used a do-while loop to block the thread for illustrative purposes.
Single thread example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Single Thread example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
runExpensiveOperation(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Web Worker example
<html>
<head>
<title>Web Worker example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const worker = new Worker('doWork.js');
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
console.log(event.data);
})
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
const ms = 5000;
worker.postMessage(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>// doWork.js
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
addEventListener('message', event => {
const ms = event.data;
runExpensiveOperation(ms);
postMessage('Done');
})Conclusion
Web Workers are useful for operations that can potentially block the UI and don’t require to access the DOM constantly. If you need to constantly access the DOM, using setTimeout might be a better approach.
Found this useful or have questions?
As we already know, JavaScript is single-threaded, which means it can only execute one thing at a time. If we run expensive operations on it, we can easily block the Event Loop and the page might become unresponsive.
So, what if our project depends on running expensive operations like processing large arrays, image filtering, analyzing video or audio data?
Let me introduce you to Web Workers.
Web Workers are a means of running JavaScript code in background threads, this can give our application superpowers.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how to create our first Web Worker and how the Web Worker communicates with the main thread and vice-versa.
Communicating between them is done with event listeners and the postMessage function. Here is a quick example of how to get it working, take your time to analyze the code.
// main.js
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');
const data = 1;
worker.postMessage(data);
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
const result = event.data;
console.log(result); // Prints "2"
})// worker.js
const sumOne = number => number + 1;
addEventListener('message', event => {
const number = event.data;
const result = sumOne(number);
postMessage(result);
})As you can see, the message/data is being sent by the postMessage function and the worker is receiving the number with the event listener and sending a result back using its own postMessage function. In this case, we are only passing a number but, depending on the browser/version you can also pass a JSON object.
One thing we need to keep on mind is that Workers have limitations, they do not have access to:
The DOM
The
windowobjectThe
documentobjectThe
parentobject
If you need to constantly access them, Web Workers would not be the right solution. You may find it useful to take advantage of the Event Loop instead.
Practical example
Let’s say we have an expensive operation that takes 5 seconds to complete. If we run it using the main thread as we normally do, we are going to block the UI.
We can show that with the following visual example:
The page was fully responsive before running the operation.
One thing to keep in mind is that we have a performance budget of 16 milliseconds, our functions should not last more than that to have a nice fluid UI. Also, we should try to avoid having operations taking longer than 1 second because the users can lose focus on the tasks they are performing.
Result of using a Web Worker
If we use a Web Worker we will notice a huge difference, the operation can run in the background and the user can still interact with the web page.
Here is the code if you want to see how that was accomplished. I used a do-while loop to block the thread for illustrative purposes.
Single thread example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Single Thread example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
runExpensiveOperation(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Web Worker example
<html>
<head>
<title>Web Worker example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const worker = new Worker('doWork.js');
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
console.log(event.data);
})
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
const ms = 5000;
worker.postMessage(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>// doWork.js
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
addEventListener('message', event => {
const ms = event.data;
runExpensiveOperation(ms);
postMessage('Done');
})Conclusion
Web Workers are useful for operations that can potentially block the UI and don’t require to access the DOM constantly. If you need to constantly access the DOM, using setTimeout might be a better approach.
Found this useful or have questions?
As we already know, JavaScript is single-threaded, which means it can only execute one thing at a time. If we run expensive operations on it, we can easily block the Event Loop and the page might become unresponsive.
So, what if our project depends on running expensive operations like processing large arrays, image filtering, analyzing video or audio data?
Let me introduce you to Web Workers.
Web Workers are a means of running JavaScript code in background threads, this can give our application superpowers.
In this blog post, I’ll cover how to create our first Web Worker and how the Web Worker communicates with the main thread and vice-versa.
Communicating between them is done with event listeners and the postMessage function. Here is a quick example of how to get it working, take your time to analyze the code.
// main.js
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');
const data = 1;
worker.postMessage(data);
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
const result = event.data;
console.log(result); // Prints "2"
})// worker.js
const sumOne = number => number + 1;
addEventListener('message', event => {
const number = event.data;
const result = sumOne(number);
postMessage(result);
})As you can see, the message/data is being sent by the postMessage function and the worker is receiving the number with the event listener and sending a result back using its own postMessage function. In this case, we are only passing a number but, depending on the browser/version you can also pass a JSON object.
One thing we need to keep on mind is that Workers have limitations, they do not have access to:
The DOM
The
windowobjectThe
documentobjectThe
parentobject
If you need to constantly access them, Web Workers would not be the right solution. You may find it useful to take advantage of the Event Loop instead.
Practical example
Let’s say we have an expensive operation that takes 5 seconds to complete. If we run it using the main thread as we normally do, we are going to block the UI.
We can show that with the following visual example:
The page was fully responsive before running the operation.
One thing to keep in mind is that we have a performance budget of 16 milliseconds, our functions should not last more than that to have a nice fluid UI. Also, we should try to avoid having operations taking longer than 1 second because the users can lose focus on the tasks they are performing.
Result of using a Web Worker
If we use a Web Worker we will notice a huge difference, the operation can run in the background and the user can still interact with the web page.
Here is the code if you want to see how that was accomplished. I used a do-while loop to block the thread for illustrative purposes.
Single thread example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Single Thread example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
runExpensiveOperation(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>Web Worker example
<html>
<head>
<title>Web Worker example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<button id="show-alert">Show alert</button>
</div>
<div>
<button id="run-expensive-operation">Run expensive operation</button>
</div>
<script>
const $runExpensiveOperationBtn = document.getElementById('run-expensive-operation');
const $showAlertBtn = document.getElementById('show-alert');
const worker = new Worker('doWork.js');
worker.addEventListener('message', event => {
console.log(event.data);
})
$runExpensiveOperationBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
const ms = 5000;
worker.postMessage(5000);
});
$showAlertBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
alert('Alert');
});
</script>
</body>
</html>// doWork.js
const runExpensiveOperation = (milliseconds) => {
console.log('Running expensive operation');
const date = Date.now();
let currentDate = null;
do {
currentDate = Date.now();
} while (currentDate - date < milliseconds);
}
addEventListener('message', event => {
const ms = event.data;
runExpensiveOperation(ms);
postMessage('Done');
})Conclusion
Web Workers are useful for operations that can potentially block the UI and don’t require to access the DOM constantly. If you need to constantly access the DOM, using setTimeout might be a better approach.
Found this useful or have questions?
Hire top-tier talent
Guadalajara
Werkshop - Av. Acueducto 6050, Lomas del bosque, Plaza Acueducto. 45116,
Zapopan, Jalisco. México.
Texas
17350 State Hwy 249, Ste 220 #20807,
Houston, Texas 77064 US.
© Density Labs. All Right reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.
Hire top-tier talent
Guadalajara
Werkshop - Av. Acueducto 6050, Lomas del bosque, Plaza Acueducto. 45116,
Zapopan, Jalisco. México.
Texas
17350 State Hwy 249, Ste 220 #20807,
Houston, Texas 77064 US.
© Density Labs. All Right reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.
Hire top-tier talent
Guadalajara
Werkshop - Av. Acueducto 6050, Lomas del bosque, Plaza Acueducto. 45116,
Zapopan, Jalisco. México.
Texas
17350 State Hwy 249, Ste 220 #20807,
Houston, Texas 77064 US.
© Density Labs. All Right reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.