Rate Limiting in R Programming Language
Here’s the translation of the Go rate limiting example to R, formatted in Markdown for Hugo:
Rate limiting is an important mechanism for controlling resource utilization and maintaining quality of service. R supports rate limiting through various mechanisms, including the use of timers and queues.
library(R6)
library(lubridate)
# First we'll look at basic rate limiting. Suppose
# we want to limit our handling of incoming requests.
# We'll serve these requests off a queue of the same name.
requests <- c(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
# This limiter function will return TRUE every 200 milliseconds.
# This is the regulator in our rate limiting scheme.
create_limiter <- function(interval) {
last_check <- Sys.time()
function() {
now <- Sys.time()
if (as.numeric(now - last_check, units = "secs") >= interval) {
last_check <<- now
return(TRUE)
}
return(FALSE)
}
}
limiter <- create_limiter(0.2) # 200 milliseconds
# By checking the limiter before processing each request,
# we limit ourselves to 1 request every 200 milliseconds.
for (req in requests) {
while (!limiter()) {
Sys.sleep(0.01) # Small sleep to avoid busy waiting
}
cat("request", req, as.character(Sys.time()), "\n")
}
# We may want to allow short bursts of requests in
# our rate limiting scheme while preserving the
# overall rate limit. We can accomplish this by
# using a token bucket algorithm.
TokenBucket <- R6Class("TokenBucket",
public = list(
capacity = NULL,
tokens = NULL,
fill_rate = NULL,
last_fill = NULL,
initialize = function(capacity, fill_rate) {
self$capacity <- capacity
self$tokens <- capacity
self$fill_rate <- fill_rate
self$last_fill <- Sys.time()
},
consume = function(tokens = 1) {
self$refill()
if (self$tokens >= tokens) {
self$tokens <- self$tokens - tokens
return(TRUE)
}
return(FALSE)
},
refill = function() {
now <- Sys.time()
delta <- as.numeric(now - self$last_fill, units = "secs")
self$tokens <- min(self$capacity, self$tokens + delta * self$fill_rate)
self$last_fill <- now
}
)
)
# This bursty_limiter will allow bursts of up to 3 events.
bursty_limiter <- TokenBucket$new(capacity = 3, fill_rate = 5) # 5 tokens per second
# Now simulate 5 more incoming requests. The first
# 3 of these will benefit from the burst capability
# of bursty_limiter.
bursty_requests <- c(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
for (req in bursty_requests) {
while (!bursty_limiter$consume()) {
Sys.sleep(0.01) # Small sleep to avoid busy waiting
}
cat("request", req, as.character(Sys.time()), "\n")
}
Running our program, we see the first batch of requests handled once every ~200 milliseconds as desired.
request 1 2023-06-01 12:00:00.000
request 2 2023-06-01 12:00:00.200
request 3 2023-06-01 12:00:00.400
request 4 2023-06-01 12:00:00.600
request 5 2023-06-01 12:00:00.800
For the second batch of requests, we serve the first 3 immediately because of the burstable rate limiting, then serve the remaining 2 with delays.
request 1 2023-06-01 12:00:01.000
request 2 2023-06-01 12:00:01.000
request 3 2023-06-01 12:00:01.000
request 4 2023-06-01 12:00:01.200
request 5 2023-06-01 12:00:01.400
This example demonstrates how to implement basic and bursty rate limiting in R. The basic rate limiting uses a simple timer approach, while the bursty rate limiting uses a token bucket algorithm. These techniques can be useful for controlling the rate of operations in various scenarios, such as API calls or resource-intensive computations.