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Jake Archibald on the web browser event loop, setTimeout, micro tasks, requestAnimationFrame, ...

JSConf · talk · Watch on YouTube

Web developmentSoftware performance & optimization

What it is

Jake Archibald's JSConf.Asia 2018 talk "In the Loop" explains the browser event loop, covering tasks, microtasks, requestAnimationFrame, and how rendering interleaves with JavaScript. It uses visual walkthroughs to show why code runs in surprising orders and why setTimeout fixes are unreliable.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN treats it as the best primer on the event loop, praising its entertaining, easy-to-grasp visual explanations.

  • 7 people recommended it
  • 6 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “actually making it both entertaining and easily grokable!”

    Entertaining and easy-to-grasp explanation of the JavaScript event loop.

    wattengard, 2018-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: What are some of the best technical talks you've heard?”

  2. “Awesome video for every javascript developer.”

    Visual explanation of how the event loop works.

    olavgg, 2018-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: What are some of the best technical talks you've heard?”

  3. “The best primer for the event loop I have found is here”

    Best event loop primer with a likeable, knowledgeable speaker.

    phist_mcgee, 2020-11 · Strong recommendation · in “How does the event loop work in JavaScript? [video]”

  4. “Here are two great talks to help you”

    One of two great talks for understanding the event loop.

    mxschumacher, 2018-07 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What you wish you'd known before getting into JavaScript?”

  5. “I think it's finally clicking after watching these YouTube videos”

    One of several videos that helped async JS finally click.

    luuuzeta, 2022-11 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?”

  6. “And also that talk on the event loop”

    Helped a C developer grasp async in JS.

    cassepipe, 2023-07 · Recommendation · in “How to think about `async`/`await` in Rust”

  7. “see Jake Archbald’s superb talk[1]”

    Superb talk on how the browser schedules tasks.

    mananaysiempre, 2023-10 · Recommendation · in “Populating the page: how browsers work”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: javascript, event loop, microtasks, requestanimationframe, settimeout, web browsers

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