p-limit vs limiter vs p-throttle
Concurrency Control Libraries Comparison
1 Year
p-limitlimiterp-throttleSimilar Packages:
What's Concurrency Control Libraries?

Concurrency control libraries are essential tools in web development that help manage the execution of asynchronous operations, ensuring that they do not overwhelm system resources or violate rate limits. These libraries provide mechanisms to limit the number of concurrent operations, throttle requests over time, or impose specific execution constraints. By using these libraries, developers can optimize performance, enhance user experience, and prevent server overloads, especially when dealing with APIs or resource-intensive tasks.

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p-limit56,300,5592,10510.3 kB614 days agoMIT
limiter2,381,6481,517-204 years agoMIT
p-throttle609,61845011.7 kB7a month agoMIT
Feature Comparison: p-limit vs limiter vs p-throttle

Concurrency Management

  • p-limit:

    p-limit allows you to control the number of concurrent promises that can be executed at any given time. This is crucial for managing resource-intensive tasks, as it helps prevent overwhelming the system by limiting how many promises are processed simultaneously.

  • limiter:

    Limiter provides a straightforward API to set limits on how many times a function can be executed within a defined time frame. It is particularly useful for controlling the rate of function calls, making it suitable for scenarios like API requests where rate limits are enforced.

  • p-throttle:

    p-throttle provides a mechanism to throttle function calls, ensuring that a function is only executed once within a specified time interval. This is particularly useful for scenarios like debouncing user input or limiting the frequency of API calls.

Use Cases

  • p-limit:

    p-limit is best suited for scenarios where you need to perform multiple asynchronous operations, such as fetching data from multiple sources or processing files, while ensuring that only a certain number of these operations are executed concurrently to maintain performance.

  • limiter:

    Limiter is ideal for scenarios where you need to enforce strict rate limits on function calls, such as when interacting with APIs that have usage quotas or when you want to limit the frequency of certain operations to prevent resource exhaustion.

  • p-throttle:

    p-throttle is particularly effective in scenarios where you want to limit the frequency of event handling, such as in user interface interactions (e.g., scrolling, resizing) or when making frequent API calls that should not exceed a certain rate.

Performance Optimization

  • p-limit:

    p-limit enhances performance by allowing developers to control the concurrency of promise executions, which can lead to better resource management and improved response times when dealing with multiple asynchronous tasks.

  • limiter:

    By limiting the number of function calls, Limiter helps optimize performance by preventing excessive load on the system, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that the application remains responsive even under heavy usage.

  • p-throttle:

    p-throttle optimizes performance by ensuring that functions are not called more frequently than necessary, which can help reduce the load on servers and improve the overall efficiency of the application.

Simplicity and Ease of Use

  • p-limit:

    p-limit is designed to be straightforward to use, allowing developers to quickly set up concurrency limits for their asynchronous operations with minimal overhead.

  • limiter:

    Limiter offers a simple and intuitive API, making it easy to implement rate limiting in your applications without requiring extensive configuration or complex setups.

  • p-throttle:

    p-throttle provides a clean and easy-to-understand interface for throttling function calls, making it accessible for developers looking to implement rate limiting in their applications.

Flexibility

  • p-limit:

    p-limit offers flexibility in managing the concurrency of promises, allowing developers to adjust the maximum number of concurrent executions based on system capabilities and requirements.

  • limiter:

    Limiter is flexible in that it allows developers to define custom limits based on their specific needs, making it adaptable to various use cases and scenarios.

  • p-throttle:

    p-throttle is flexible in its configuration, enabling developers to easily specify the time interval for throttling, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.

How to Choose: p-limit vs limiter vs p-throttle
  • p-limit:

    Select p-limit when you want to manage the concurrency of promises, allowing you to specify the maximum number of promises that can be executed simultaneously. This is ideal for scenarios where you need to perform multiple asynchronous operations but want to avoid overwhelming the system with too many concurrent requests.

  • limiter:

    Choose Limiter if you need a simple and effective way to control the rate of function executions, especially in scenarios where you want to limit the number of times a function can be called over a specified period. It is particularly useful for scenarios like API rate limiting.

  • p-throttle:

    Opt for p-throttle if you need to limit the execution rate of a function over time, ensuring that it is called at most once in a specified duration. This is particularly useful for scenarios like handling user input events or API calls that should not be made too frequently.

README for p-limit

p-limit

Run multiple promise-returning & async functions with limited concurrency

Works in Node.js and browsers.

Install

npm install p-limit

Usage

import pLimit from 'p-limit';

const limit = pLimit(1);

const input = [
	limit(() => fetchSomething('foo')),
	limit(() => fetchSomething('bar')),
	limit(() => doSomething())
];

// Only one promise is run at once
const result = await Promise.all(input);
console.log(result);

API

pLimit(concurrency) default export

Returns a limit function.

concurrency

Type: number
Minimum: 1

Concurrency limit.

limit(fn, ...args)

Returns the promise returned by calling fn(...args).

fn

Type: Function

Promise-returning/async function.

args

Any arguments to pass through to fn.

Support for passing arguments on to the fn is provided in order to be able to avoid creating unnecessary closures. You probably don't need this optimization unless you're pushing a lot of functions.

limit.activeCount

The number of promises that are currently running.

limit.pendingCount

The number of promises that are waiting to run (i.e. their internal fn was not called yet).

limit.clearQueue()

Discard pending promises that are waiting to run.

This might be useful if you want to teardown the queue at the end of your program's lifecycle or discard any function calls referencing an intermediary state of your app.

Note: This does not cancel promises that are already running.

limit.concurrency

Get or set the concurrency limit.

limitFunction(fn, options) named export

Returns a function with limited concurrency.

The returned function manages its own concurrent executions, allowing you to call it multiple times without exceeding the specified concurrency limit.

Ideal for scenarios where you need to control the number of simultaneous executions of a single function, rather than managing concurrency across multiple functions.

import {limitFunction} from 'p-limit';

const limitedFunction = limitFunction(async () => {
	return doSomething();
}, {concurrency: 1});

const input = Array.from({length: 10}, limitedFunction);

// Only one promise is run at once.
await Promise.all(input);

fn

Type: Function

Promise-returning/async function.

options

Type: object

concurrency

Type: number
Minimum: 1

Concurrency limit.

FAQ

How is this different from the p-queue package?

This package is only about limiting the number of concurrent executions, while p-queue is a fully featured queue implementation with lots of different options, introspection, and ability to pause the queue.

Related

  • p-throttle - Throttle promise-returning & async functions
  • p-debounce - Debounce promise-returning & async functions
  • p-all - Run promise-returning & async functions concurrently with optional limited concurrency
  • More…