Why Node.js and Python Don't Use Linux's Native Async I/O API
· 11 min read
TL;DR:
Linux provides a native Asynchronous I/O (AIO) API that should theoretically allow true background file operations. Yet popular frameworks like Node.js and Python's asyncio avoid it entirely, relying instead on thread pools with blocking I/O. Why? The answer reveals important lessons about API design, cross-platform compatibility, and the gap between theoretical elegance and practical engineering. The future may lie in io_uring, a modern interface that addresses many of AIO's shortcomings.