generic-pool

What is generic-pool?

The generic-pool npm package is a resource pooling library that allows users to manage a pool of resources such as database connections, network connections, or any other resource that is expensive to create and can be reused. It helps to limit the number of resources created and manages the allocation and deallocation of these resources efficiently.

What are generic-pool's main functionalities?

Creating a pool of resources

This code sample demonstrates how to create a pool with a maximum of 10 resources and a minimum of 2. The 'create' function is used to create a new resource, and the 'destroy' function is used to clean up a resource when it is no longer needed.

const genericPool = require('generic-pool');
const pool = genericPool.createPool({
  create: () => createMyResource(),
  destroy: (resource) => destroyMyResource(resource)
}, {
  max: 10,
  min: 2
});

Acquiring and releasing resources

This code sample shows how to acquire a resource from the pool and then release it back to the pool once it is no longer needed. The 'acquire' method returns a promise that resolves with a resource when one becomes available.

pool.acquire().then(resource => {
  // use the resource
  pool.release(resource);
}).catch(err => {
  // handle error
});

Draining the pool and shutting down

This code sample illustrates how to drain the pool of all its resources and then shut it down completely. The 'drain' method returns a promise that resolves once all the resources have been returned to the pool and are no longer in use.

pool.drain().then(() => pool.clear());

Other packages similar to generic-pool

bottleneck

Bottleneck is a rate limiter that can be used to throttle function calls. It is similar to generic-pool in that it helps manage resource usage, but it focuses on limiting the rate of operations rather than managing a pool of reusable resources.

pool2

Pool2 is another resource pooling library that provides similar functionalities to generic-pool. It offers features like resource creation, destruction, and timeout handling. Pool2 is designed to be a more modern and extensible version of generic-pool with additional features like priority queuing.

README

About

Generic resource pool. Can be used to reuse or throttle expensive resources such as database connections.

Installation

$ npm install generic-pool

History

1.0.4 - Jan 25 2011
   - Fixed #6 (objects reaped with undefined timeouts)
   - Fixed #7 (objectTimeout issue)

1.0.3 - Dec 9 2010
   - Added priority queueing (thanks to sylvinus)
   - Contributions from Poetro
     - Name changes to match conventions described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_pool_pattern
        - borrow() renamed to acquire()
        - returnToPool() renamed to release()
     - destroy() removed from public interface
     - added JsDoc comments
     - Priority queueing enhancements
   
1.0.2 - Nov 9 2010 
   - First NPM release

Example

// Create a MySQL connection pool with
// a max of 10 connections and a 30 second max idle time
var poolModule = require('generic-pool');
var pool = poolModule.Pool({
    name     : 'mysql',
    create   : function(callback) {
        var Client = require('mysql').Client;
        var c = new Client();
        c.user     = 'scott';
        c.password = 'tiger';
        c.database = 'mydb';
        c.connect();
        callback(c);
    },
    destroy  : function(client) { client.end(); },
    max      : 10,
    idleTimeoutMillis : 30000,
    log : false
});

// acquire connection - callback function is called
// once a resource becomes available
pool.acquire(function(client) {
    client.query("select * from foo", [], function() {
        // return object back to pool
        pool.release(client);
    });
});

Documentation

Pool() accepts an object with these slots:

              name : name of pool (string, optional)
            create : function that returns a new resource
                       should call callback() with the created resource
           destroy : function that accepts a resource and destroys it
               max : maximum number of resources to create at any given time
 idleTimeoutMillis : max milliseconds a resource can go unused before it should be destroyed
                     (default 30000)
reapIntervalMillis : frequency to check for idle resources (default 1000),
     priorityRange : int between 1 and x - if set, borrowers can specify their
                     relative priority in the queue if no resources are available.
                     see example.  (default 1)
               log : true/false  - if true, verbose log info will be sent to console.log()
                     (default false)

Priority Queueing

The pool now supports optional priority queueing. This becomes relevant when no resources are available and the caller has to wait. acquire() accepts an optional priority int which specifies the caller's relative position in the queue.

 // create pool with priorityRange of 3
 // borrowers can specify a priority 0 to 2
 var pool = poolModule.Pool({
     name     : 'mysql',
     create   : function(callback) {
         // do something
     },
     destroy  : function(client) { 
         // cleanup.  omitted for this example
     },
     max      : 10,
     idleTimeoutMillis : 30000,
     priorityRange : 3
 });

 // acquire connection - no priority - will go at end of line
 pool.acquire(function(client) {
     pool.release(client);
 });

 // acquire connection - high priority - will go into front slot
 pool.acquire(function(client) {
     pool.release(client);
 }, 0);

 // acquire connection - medium priority - will go into middle slot
 pool.acquire(function(client) {
     pool.release(client);
 }, 1);

 // etc..

Run Tests

$ npm install expresso
$ expresso -I lib test/*.js

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2010-2011 James Cooper <[e-mail]>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Changelog

[1.0.4] - Jan 25 2011

• Fixed #6 (objects reaped with undefined timeouts)
• Fixed #7 (objectTimeout issue)