Redis modules API on Docs

Modules API reference

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sections

Redis modules and blocking commands

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Redis has a few blocking commands among the built-in set of commands. One of the most used is BLPOP (or the symmetric BRPOP) which blocks waiting for elements arriving in a list.

The interesting fact about blocking commands is that they do not block the whole server, but just the client calling them. Usually the reason to block is that we expect some external event to happen: this can be some change in the Redis data structures like in the BLPOP case, a long computation happening in a thread, to receive some data from the network, and so forth.

Modules API for native types

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Redis modules can access Redis built-in data structures both at high level, by calling Redis commands, and at low level, by manipulating the data structures directly.

By using these capabilities in order to build new abstractions on top of existing Redis data structures, or by using strings DMA in order to encode modules data structures into Redis strings, it is possible to create modules that feel like they are exporting new data types. However, for more complex problems, this is not enough, and the implementation of new data structures inside the module is needed.