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MaryaBelanger committed Nov 7, 2024
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10 changes: 6 additions & 4 deletions src/content/language/concurrency.md
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Expand Up @@ -430,20 +430,22 @@ objects, so they're subject to the same limitations.

#### Synchronous blocking communication between isolates

There is a limit to the number of isolates that can run in parallel, or *synchronously*.
There is a limit to the number of isolates that can run in parallel.
This limit doesn't affect the standard *asynchronous* communication between isolates
via messages in Dart. You can have hundreds of isolates running concurrently
and making progress. The isolates are scheduled on the CPU in round-robin fashion,
and yield to each other often.

Isolates can only communicate *synchronously* outside of pure Dart,
using C code via [FFI] to do so.
Attempts to perform synchronous communication between isolates in FFI calls
over the limit may result in deadlock unless special care is taken.
Attempting synchronous communication between isolates
by synchronous blocking in FFI calls
may result in deadlock if the number of isolates is over the limit,
unless special care is taken.
The limit is not hardcoded to a particular number,
it's calculated based on the Dart VM heap size available to the Dart application.

To avoid this situation, the C code performing synchronous communication
To avoid this situation, the C code performing synchronous blocking
needs to leave the current isolate before performing the blocking operation
and re-enter it before returning to Dart from the FFI call.
Read about [`Dart_EnterIsolate`] and [`Dart_ExitIsolate`] to learn more.
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