🚀 The Timeout Tamer: When Patience Met Progress

Source: Dev.to

The Dreaded Impasse

In the land of Gridopia, Luna the Sorceress prepared her greatest spell — publishing 427 rows of enchanted data. She waved her wand (clicked “Publish”)… and TimeOut, the grumpy gatekeeper, slammed the portal.

“Your patience has expired.”

Had her creation vanished?

The Villain: TimeOut

TimeOut – the ruthless guardian of the 30‑second rule. “No lingering. Move or vanish.”

The Heroes Assemble

Luna called upon three brave characters:

• @TrackProgress (the Narrator) – a magical annotation that tells the tale of this journey.
• Async (the Swift Runner) – offloads the heavy lifting. No blocking!
• SSE (the Whisperer) – pulses updates in real time.

The Quest: Taming the Timeout

Act 1: The Impasse

• Problem: The synchronous march to publish 427 rows took too long. TimeOut growled.
• Consequence: Luna was stuck, unsure, lost in limbo.

Act 2: The Async Rescue

Step‑by‑Step Technical Guide

@TrackProgress steps in (AOP Magic)

@TrackProgress("Unleashing the grid gods")
public void publishGrid(List rows) {
    String taskId = generateTaskId();
    progressService.startTask(taskId, rows.size());
    publisher.publishAsync(rows, taskId);
    return taskId;
}

• @TrackProgress (the Narrator): Marks the epic task and gives it a heartbeat.

Async takes the load (Parallel Freedom)

new Thread(() -> {
    try {
        // Process in chunks. No rush!
        jp.proceed();
        completeTask(id);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        failTask(id, e);
    }
}).start();

• Async (the Swift Runner): Fires the task. Luna receives:

{
  "taskId": "grid-427-groove",
  "message": "Your magic is brewing!",
  "track": "/pulse"
}

SSE whispers the odyssey (Real‑Time Bonds)

// As chunks complete:
progressService.updateProgress(taskId, 42, "Validating dreams…");

• SSE (the Whisperer): Streams each heartbeat, e.g.:

Publishing… 42% [████████▒▒▒]

The Climax: Progress Conquers Time

• TimeOut tries to sneer.
• @TrackProgress narrates milestones.
• Async works in the shadows.
• SSE keeps Luna hooked.

Final roar:

Publishing… 100% [████████████] Published! ✨

Luna smiles. The grid lives.

Cast of Characters & Concepts

• @TrackProgress (the Narrator) – annotation + AOP; contextualizes the long journey.
• Async (the Swift Runner) – Java threading, non‑blocking; prevents Luna from being stuck.
• SSE (the Whisperer) / WebSocket (the Conductor) – Server‑Sent Events (or WebSocket) bind the backend pulse to the frontend heartbeat.
  Note: Use whichever fits your architecture constraints.
• TimeOut (the Villain) – AWS API Gateway timeout constraint; the impetus for innovation.

Summary

• Problem: Synchronous heaviness hit a hard wall.
• Solution: Combine Async with @TrackProgress to turn waiting into a progress party.
• Result: Instead of darkness, a symphony.

The Timeout Tamer’s Creed

Constraints hide gifts. When patience is tested:

• Narrate the effort.
• Liberate the process.
• Whisper wins in real time.

And TimeOut? It nods in respect.

Takeaway

Next time limits loom, deploy the trio:

@TrackProgress ➕ Async ➕ SSE/WebSocket

How would you have tackled this situation?