Buffering and combining flows

In this section, we will learn about buffering and combining Kotlin Flows. You can buffer and combine Flows with Flow operators. Buffering allows Flow with long-running tasks to run independently and avoid race conditions. Combining allows you to join different sources of Flows before processing or displaying them on the screen.

Buffering Kotlin Flows

In this section, we will learn about buffering Kotlin Flows. Buffering allows you to run data emission in parallel to the collection.

Emitting and collecting data with Flow run sequentially. When a new value is emitted, it will be collected. Emission of a new value can only happen once the previous data has been collected. If the emission or the collection of data from the Flow takes a while to complete, the whole process will take a longer time.

With buffering, you can make a Flow’s emission and collection of data run in parallel. There are three operators you can use to buffer Flows...