netty 是事件驱动的，这里面有两个含义，一是 netty 接收到 socket 数据后，会产生事件，事件在 pipeline 上传播，二是事件由特定的线程池处理。

NioEventLoop 轮询网络事件

// io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoop#processSelectedKey
private void processSelectedKey(SelectionKey k, AbstractNioChannel ch) {
    final AbstractNioChannel.NioUnsafe unsafe = ch.unsafe();
    if (!k.isValid()) {
        final EventLoop eventLoop;
        try {
            eventLoop = ch.eventLoop();
        } catch (Throwable ignored) {
            // If the channel implementation throws an exception because there is no event loop, we ignore this
            // because we are only trying to determine if ch is registered to this event loop and thus has authority
            // to close ch.
            return;
        }
        // Only close ch if ch is still registered to this EventLoop. ch could have deregistered from the event loop
        // and thus the SelectionKey could be cancelled as part of the deregistration process, but the channel is
        // still healthy and should not be closed.
        // See https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/5125
        if (eventLoop == this) {
            // close the channel if the key is not valid anymore
            unsafe.close(unsafe.voidPromise());
        }
        return;
    }

    try {
        int readyOps = k.readyOps();
        // We first need to call finishConnect() before try to trigger a read(...) or write(...) as otherwise
        // the NIO JDK channel implementation may throw a NotYetConnectedException.
        if ((readyOps & SelectionKey.OP_CONNECT) != 0) {
            // remove OP_CONNECT as otherwise Selector.select(..) will always return without blocking
            // See https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/924
            int ops = k.interestOps();
            ops &= ~SelectionKey.OP_CONNECT;
            k.interestOps(ops);

            // 建立连接，深层会调用 fireChannelActive
            unsafe.finishConnect();
        }

        // Process OP_WRITE first as we may be able to write some queued buffers and so free memory.
        if ((readyOps & SelectionKey.OP_WRITE) != 0) {
            // Call forceFlush which will also take care of clear the OP_WRITE once there is nothing left to write
            ch.unsafe().forceFlush();
        }

        // Also check for readOps of 0 to workaround possible JDK bug which may otherwise lead
        // to a spin loop
        if ((readyOps & (SelectionKey.OP_READ | SelectionKey.OP_ACCEPT)) != 0 || readyOps == 0) {
            // 读数据，在流水线上传播读事件和连接关闭事件
            unsafe.read();
        }
    } catch (CancelledKeyException ignored) {
        unsafe.close(unsafe.voidPromise());
    }
}

// io.netty.channel.nio.AbstractNioByteChannel.NioByteUnsafe#read
public final void read() {
    final ChannelConfig config = config();
    if (shouldBreakReadReady(config)) {
        clearReadPending();
        return;
    }
    final ChannelPipeline pipeline = pipeline();
    final ByteBufAllocator allocator = config.getAllocator();
    final RecvByteBufAllocator.Handle allocHandle = recvBufAllocHandle();
    allocHandle.reset(config);

    ByteBuf byteBuf = null;
    boolean close = false;
    try {
        do {
            byteBuf = allocHandle.allocate(allocator);
            allocHandle.lastBytesRead(doReadBytes(byteBuf));
            if (allocHandle.lastBytesRead() <= 0) {
                // nothing was read. release the buffer.
                byteBuf.release();
                byteBuf = null;
                close = allocHandle.lastBytesRead() < 0;
                if (close) {
                    // There is nothing left to read as we received an EOF.
                    readPending = false;
                }
                break;
            }

            allocHandle.incMessagesRead(1);
            readPending = false;
            // 触发 ChannelRead
            pipeline.fireChannelRead(byteBuf);
            byteBuf = null;
        } while (allocHandle.continueReading());

        allocHandle.readComplete();
        // 触发 ChannelReadComplete
        pipeline.fireChannelReadComplete();

        if (close) {
            // 触发 ChannelInactive 和 ChannelUnregister
            closeOnRead(pipeline);
        }
    } catch (Throwable t) {
        handleReadException(pipeline, byteBuf, t, close, allocHandle);
    } finally {
        // Check if there is a readPending which was not processed yet.
        // This could be for two reasons:
        // * The user called Channel.read() or ChannelHandlerContext.read() in channelRead(...) method
        // * The user called Channel.read() or ChannelHandlerContext.read() in channelReadComplete(...) method
        //
        // See https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/2254
        if (!readPending && !config.isAutoRead()) {
            removeReadOp();
        }
    }
}

HandlerContext 中有一个整数 executionMask，不同的 bit 位表示不同的事件，为 1 表示可以处理该事件。

// io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext
private final int executionMask;

final class ChannelHandlerMask {
    // Using to mask which methods must be called for a ChannelHandler.
    static final int MASK_EXCEPTION_CAUGHT = 1;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_REGISTERED = 1 << 1;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_UNREGISTERED = 1 << 2;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_ACTIVE = 1 << 3;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_INACTIVE = 1 << 4;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_READ = 1 << 5;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_READ_COMPLETE = 1 << 6;
    static final int MASK_USER_EVENT_TRIGGERED = 1 << 7;
    static final int MASK_CHANNEL_WRITABILITY_CHANGED = 1 << 8;
    static final int MASK_BIND = 1 << 9;
    static final int MASK_CONNECT = 1 << 10;
    static final int MASK_DISCONNECT = 1 << 11;
    static final int MASK_CLOSE = 1 << 12;
    static final int MASK_DEREGISTER = 1 << 13;
    static final int MASK_READ = 1 << 14;
    static final int MASK_WRITE = 1 << 15;
    static final int MASK_FLUSH = 1 << 16;

    private static final int MASK_ALL_INBOUND = MASK_EXCEPTION_CAUGHT | MASK_CHANNEL_REGISTERED |
            MASK_CHANNEL_UNREGISTERED | MASK_CHANNEL_ACTIVE | MASK_CHANNEL_INACTIVE | MASK_CHANNEL_READ |
            MASK_CHANNEL_READ_COMPLETE | MASK_USER_EVENT_TRIGGERED | MASK_CHANNEL_WRITABILITY_CHANGED;
    private static final int MASK_ALL_OUTBOUND = MASK_EXCEPTION_CAUGHT | MASK_BIND | MASK_CONNECT | MASK_DISCONNECT |
            MASK_CLOSE | MASK_DEREGISTER | MASK_READ | MASK_WRITE | MASK_FLUSH;
}

以 ChannelActive 为例，通过比较 bit 位上的值，判断该 HandlerContext 是否处理 ChannelActive 事件

// io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext#fireChannelActive
public ChannelHandlerContext fireChannelActive() {
    invokeChannelActive(findContextInbound(MASK_CHANNEL_ACTIVE));
    return this;
}

// io.netty.channel.AbstractChannelHandlerContext#findContextInbound
private AbstractChannelHandlerContext findContextInbound(int mask) {
    AbstractChannelHandlerContext ctx = this;
    do {
        ctx = ctx.next;
    } while ((ctx.executionMask & mask) == 0);
    return ctx;
}