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Epoll I/O model

Epoll is a scalable I/O event notification mechanism used in the select model architecture to handle input/output operations efficiently^[600-developer__java__java-io__java-socket.md].

It serves as an evolution of the select function, designed to improve performance when monitoring a large number of file descriptors^[600-developer__java__java-io__java-socket.md]. While the select model uses a linear scan to check the status of connections, epoll typically utilizes a more efficient method—often implemented via a red-black tree or similar structure—to manage active connections, reducing the overhead of context switching and scanning^[600-developer__java__java-io__java-socket.md].

Sources

^[600-developer__java__java-io__java-socket.md]