Jay Phelps
medium.com/@jayphelps · Personal blog · on HN since 2016
Jay Phelps is a software engineer who writes on backpressure in software, virtual DOM in browsers, and generating WebAssembly with LLVM and Rust.
What HN saysHN links his backpressure explainer, and commenters use it as a starting point for discussing data flow, asynchronicity and reactive programming.
15HN people shared it
3linked it in comments
12stories submitted
245story points
1 year agolast shared
2016people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Backpressure explained – the resisted flow of data through software (2019)8 people · 218 points · first shared 2020 · 45 comments on HN
- 2LazyDOM – an experiment to bring virtual DOM to the browser natively6 people · 22 points · first shared 2016 · discussion on HN
- 3Using LLVM from Rust, to Generate WebAssembly1 people · 5 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
cygn · 2025-08-16
https://medium.com/@jayphelps/backpressure-explained-the-flow-of-data-…
sfryxell · 2024-03-30
for me this is an example of informative back pressure. the protiens make sure the cells pay attention to what just happened to allow for changes that could improve things in the future. If you like the sound of big V8's what's appealing is the backpressure signaling that the engine is healthy and capable.
There was this article on backpressure on here and it's been siting with me. I've been applying it to other articles about data flow.
https://medium.com/@jayphelps/backpressure-explained-the-flow-of-data-…
The_rationalist · 2020-08-29
Thanks. Asynchronocity is one thing but there is one thing that in theory can achieve better performance than asynchronicity alone: I'm referring to the reactive programming paradigm which benefit from the concept of backpressure.
If you've heard of it, do you think it could achieve even better performance?
https://medium.com/@jayphelps/backpressure-explained-the-flow-of-data-…