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Evaluation order of Button's action



It looks like a basic issue but I haven't found an answer anywhere.


Please tell me why the behavior (after clicking) of this Button:


Button["X", Print@1; Pause@1; Print@2;]
(*1 and 2 appear simultaneously after 1 sec*)

is different from the behavior of Shift+Enter evaluation:


Print@1; Pause@1; Print@2;
(*printing of 2 happens 1sec after 1*)

Answer



The reason is because Button actions are calculated on a preemptive link, meaning they preempt any other evaluation, but are only allowed a certain amount of time to evaluate. That indicates:




the front end sends one evaluation at a time and waits for the result before continuing with its other work




So it can't display 1 because it is waiting for Pause[1];Print[2] to finish.


You can replicate the behavior of


Print@1; Pause@1; Print@2;

by adding the option Method->"Queued" to the Button arguments.


This ensures the actions are performed in the current queue and no time limit is enforced.



See the documentation under "Details and Options"




Further reading:



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