Channels trong Kotlin Coroutines

1. Giới thiệu

Channels là primitive cho communication giữa coroutines. Chúng giống như BlockingQueue nhưng có suspending operations thay vì blocking.

2. Basic Channel


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<Int>()
    
    // Producer
    launch {
        for (x in 1..5) {
            println("Sending $x")
            channel.send(x)
        }
        channel.close()  // Đóng khi xong
    }
    
    // Consumer
    for (value in channel) {
        println("Received $value")
    }
    
    println("Done!")
}
// Output:
// Sending 1
// Received 1
// Sending 2
// Received 2
// ...

3. Channel Types

Rendezvous Channel (default)

Không có buffer - sender suspend cho đến khi receiver sẵn sàng:


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<Int>()  // Rendezvous (capacity = 0)
    
    launch {
        println("Sending 1...")
        channel.send(1)  // Suspends until received
        println("Sent 1!")
    }
    
    delay(1000)
    println("Receiving...")
    println("Got: ${channel.receive()}")
}
// Output:
// Sending 1...
// (waits 1 second)
// Receiving...
// Sent 1!
// Got: 1

Buffered Channel


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<Int>(capacity = 3)  // Buffer size 3
    
    launch {
        for (x in 1..5) {
            println("Sending $x")
            channel.send(x)  // Won't suspend until buffer full
            println("Sent $x")
        }
    }
    
    delay(500)  // Let producer fill buffer
    
    for (value in channel) {
        println("Received $value")
        delay(100)
        if (value == 5) break
    }
}

Conflated Channel

Chỉ giữ giá trị mới nhất:


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<Int>(Channel.CONFLATED)
    
    launch {
        for (x in 1..5) {
            println("Sending $x")
            channel.send(x)
        }
    }
    
    delay(100)  // Let producer send all values
    
    println("Received: ${channel.receive()}")  // Only gets latest (5)
}
// Output:
// Sending 1
// Sending 2
// Sending 3
// Sending 4
// Sending 5
// Received: 5

Unlimited Channel


import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
val channel = Channel<Int>(Channel.UNLIMITED)  // Never suspends on send

So sánh

Type	Capacity	Suspend on send	Use case
Rendezvous	0	Always	Synchronization
Buffered	N	When full	Throughput
Conflated	1	Never (replaces)	Latest value
Unlimited	∞	Never	Memory tradeoff

4. Producers và Consumers

produce builder


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun CoroutineScope.produceNumbers(): ReceiveChannel<Int> = produce {
    for (x in 1..10) {
        send(x * x)
    }
}  // Channel auto-closed when done
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val squares = produceNumbers()
    
    squares.consumeEach { println(it) }
    // 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100
}

actor builder


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
sealed class CounterMsg
object Increment : CounterMsg()
class GetCount(val response: CompletableDeferred<Int>) : CounterMsg()
 
fun CoroutineScope.counterActor() = actor<CounterMsg> {
    var counter = 0
    for (msg in channel) {
        when (msg) {
            is Increment -> counter++
            is GetCount -> msg.response.complete(counter)
        }
    }
}
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val counter = counterActor()
    
    // Increment concurrently
    repeat(100) {
        launch {
            counter.send(Increment)
        }
    }
    
    // Get final count
    val response = CompletableDeferred<Int>()
    counter.send(GetCount(response))
    println("Count: ${response.await()}")  // 100
    
    counter.close()
}

5. Fan-out và Fan-in

Fan-out: Multiple consumers


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = produce {
        repeat(10) {
            send(it)
            delay(100)
        }
    }
    
    // Multiple consumers
    repeat(3) { consumerId ->
        launch {
            for (msg in channel) {
                println("Consumer $consumerId received $msg")
            }
        }
    }
}
// Each message goes to only one consumer

Fan-in: Multiple producers


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<String>()
    
    // Multiple producers
    launch { sendStrings(channel, "A", 200) }
    launch { sendStrings(channel, "B", 300) }
    launch { sendStrings(channel, "C", 500) }
    
    // Single consumer
    repeat(9) {
        println(channel.receive())
    }
    
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}
 
suspend fun sendStrings(channel: SendChannel<String>, prefix: String, delay: Long) {
    repeat(3) {
        delay(delay)
        channel.send("$prefix$it")
    }
}
// Output interleaved: A0, B0, A1, C0, B1, A2, B2, C1, C2

6. Select Expression

Chọn từ nhiều channels:


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.selects.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel1 = produce {
        delay(100)
        send("from channel 1")
    }
    
    val channel2 = produce {
        delay(50)
        send("from channel 2")
    }
    
    // Select first available
    val result = select<String> {
        channel1.onReceive { it }
        channel2.onReceive { it }
    }
    
    println(result)  // "from channel 2" (faster)
}

Select with timeout


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.selects.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<String>()
    
    launch {
        delay(500)
        channel.send("Hello")
    }
    
    val result = select<String?> {
        channel.onReceive { it }
        onTimeout(200) { null }
    }
    
    println(result ?: "Timeout!")  // "Timeout!"
}

7. Pipeline Pattern


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
fun CoroutineScope.produceNumbers() = produce {
    var x = 1
    while (true) {
        send(x++)
        delay(100)
    }
}
 
fun CoroutineScope.square(numbers: ReceiveChannel<Int>) = produce {
    for (x in numbers) {
        send(x * x)
    }
}
 
fun CoroutineScope.filter(numbers: ReceiveChannel<Int>, predicate: (Int) -> Boolean) = produce {
    for (x in numbers) {
        if (predicate(x)) send(x)
    }
}
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val numbers = produceNumbers()
    val squares = square(numbers)
    val evenSquares = filter(squares) { it % 2 == 0 }
    
    repeat(5) {
        println(evenSquares.receive())
    }
    
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}
// Output: 4, 16, 36, 64, 100

8. Broadcast Channel (Deprecated → SharedFlow)


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
 
// Modern approach: use SharedFlow instead of BroadcastChannel
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val sharedFlow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>()
    
    // Multiple subscribers
    launch {
        sharedFlow.collect { println("Subscriber 1: $it") }
    }
    
    launch {
        sharedFlow.collect { println("Subscriber 2: $it") }
    }
    
    delay(100)
    
    // Emit to all subscribers
    repeat(3) {
        sharedFlow.emit(it)
        delay(100)
    }
    
    delay(100)
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

9. Channels vs Flows

Feature	Channel	Flow
Hot/Cold	Hot	Cold
Multiple collectors	Shared	Each gets all values
Backpressure	Built-in (suspend)	Operators
Use case	Communication	Data streams


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    // Channel: hot, shared
    val channel = produce {
        repeat(3) { send(it) }
    }
    
    launch { channel.consumeEach { println("A: $it") } }
    launch { channel.consumeEach { println("B: $it") } }
    // Each value goes to ONE consumer
    
    delay(100)
    
    // Flow: cold, each collector gets all
    val flow = flow {
        repeat(3) { emit(it) }
    }
    
    launch { flow.collect { println("X: $it") } }
    launch { flow.collect { println("Y: $it") } }
    // Both X and Y get all values
    
    delay(100)
}

10. Practical Examples

Rate limiter with Channel


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
class RateLimiter(
    private val requestsPerSecond: Int
) {
    private val tickets = Channel<Unit>(requestsPerSecond)
    
    init {
        CoroutineScope(Dispatchers.Default).launch {
            while (true) {
                repeat(requestsPerSecond) {
                    tickets.trySend(Unit)
                }
                delay(1000)
            }
        }
    }
    
    suspend fun acquire() {
        tickets.receive()
    }
}
 
suspend fun main() {
    val limiter = RateLimiter(5)  // 5 requests per second
    
    repeat(20) { i ->
        limiter.acquire()
        println("Request $i at ${System.currentTimeMillis()}")
    }
}

Work queue


import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
 
data class Task(val id: Int, val data: String)
data class Result(val taskId: Int, val result: String)
 
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val tasks = Channel<Task>(Channel.UNLIMITED)
    val results = Channel<Result>(Channel.UNLIMITED)
    
    // Workers
    repeat(3) { workerId ->
        launch {
            for (task in tasks) {
                delay(100)  // Simulate work
                results.send(Result(task.id, "Processed by $workerId: ${task.data}"))
            }
        }
    }
    
    // Submit tasks
    repeat(10) {
        tasks.send(Task(it, "Data $it"))
    }
    tasks.close()
    
    // Collect results
    repeat(10) {
        println(results.receive())
    }
}

📝 Tóm tắt

Operation	Description
`send(value)`	Send value (suspends if full)
`receive()`	Receive value (suspends if empty)
`close()`	Close channel
`produce { }`	Create producer coroutine
`actor { }`	Create actor coroutine

Channel types:

Rendezvous: Synchronous handoff
Buffered: Async with fixed capacity
Conflated: Only keep latest
Unlimited: Never suspend (memory!)

Khi nào dùng Channel vs Flow:

Channel: Communication giữa coroutines
Flow: Data streams, transformations