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What is NPipeline?

What is NPipeline?​

NPipeline is a powerful and flexible .NET library designed for building high-performance, graph-based streaming data pipelines. It empowers developers to construct complex data processing workflows with ease, focusing on efficiency, testability, and maintainability.

At its core, NPipeline allows you to define a series of interconnected operations (nodes) that process data as it flows through the system. This graph-based approach provides clear visibility into your data's journey, making it simple to design, debug, and optimize your pipelines.

Key Features​

  • Graph-Based Architecture: Visually intuitive and easy to understand data flow.
  • High Performance: Optimized for low memory allocations and efficient data processing.
  • Extensible: Easily integrate custom logic and connect to various data sources and destinations.
  • Testable: Designed with testability in mind, enabling robust and reliable pipelines.
  • Modern .NET: Leverages the latest C# features and asynchronous programming patterns.

How it Works​

NPipeline pipelines are constructed using a builder pattern, where you define nodes that act as sources, transforms, or sinks.

  • Sources: Initiate the data flow by producing items.
  • Transforms: Process and transform data items as they pass through the pipeline.
  • Sinks: Consume data items, typically writing them to a destination or performing a final action.

These nodes are connected to form a directed acyclic graph (DAG), ensuring a clear and predictable data path.

Benefits for Developers​

  • Accelerated Development: Rapidly build and deploy data pipelines with a clear, concise API.
  • Improved Maintainability: Graph-based structure and modular components make pipelines easier to understand and modify.
  • Enhanced Reliability: Robust error handling and testing mechanisms ensure data integrity.
  • Optimal Performance: Achieve high throughput and low latency for demanding data workloads.

Next Steps​

  • Why NPipeline?: Understand the benefits, design philosophy, and zero-allocation fast paths
  • Installation: Get NPipeline set up in your development environment
  • Quick Start: Begin building your first pipeline
  • Core Concepts: Dive deeper into the fundamental building blocks of NPipeline

Learning Path Recommendation​

New to NPipeline? Follow this path:

  1. Why NPipeline? - Understand the value proposition and design philosophy
  2. Quick Start - Build your first working pipeline (15 minutes)
  3. Core Concepts - Understand the building blocks (sources, transforms, sinks)
  4. Grouping Strategies - Learn the critical choice between batching and aggregation
  5. Core Resilience Concepts - Build fault-tolerant pipelines
  6. Optimization Principles - Understand how NPipeline achieves high performance
  7. Performance Hygiene - Apply optimization patterns to your code