Project Reactor vs guava: What are the differences?

Introduction: In comparing Project Reactor and Guava, it is important to consider their key differences to determine which one is suitable for a specific use case.

1. Async Programming Support: Project Reactor is built specifically for asynchronous programming by providing a robust set of tools and libraries for handling asynchronous operations. On the other hand, Guava focuses more on providing general utilities and collections, with less emphasis on asynchronous programming.

2. Reactive Streams Implementation: Project Reactor implements the Reactive Streams specification, allowing developers to work with a standard API for handling asynchronous data streams. Guava, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for reactive streams and focuses more on providing utility classes for common programming tasks.

3. Backpressure Handling: Project Reactor offers built-in support for backpressure handling, which allows developers to control the flow of data in asynchronous streams, preventing overwhelming downstream consumers. In contrast, backpressure handling is not a core feature in Guava.

4. Functional Programming Paradigm: Project Reactor is designed with a strong focus on functional programming principles, enabling developers to leverage features like immutability, higher-order functions, and reactive operators. Guava, while providing some functional programming utilities, is not as deeply rooted in the functional programming paradigm as Project Reactor.

5. Use Cases: Project Reactor is commonly used in modern reactive and event-driven applications that require high concurrency and asynchronous processing. On the other hand, Guava is often used in traditional Java applications where utilities for collections, caching, and concurrency are needed.

6. Community and Support: Project Reactor has a strong community and support from the Spring ecosystem, making it a popular choice for developers working in Spring-based applications. Guava, while widely used and supported, may not have the same level of specific community support for certain use cases as Project Reactor.

In Summary, Project Reactor and Guava differ in their focus on asynchronous programming, reactive streams implementation, backpressure handling, functional programming paradigm, use cases, and community support.