ACTIVE FILE CHANGE NOTIFICATION

Techniques and systems, including computer program products, for providing timely file change notification. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes a recorder that records changes to one or more files in a file system and a broker that receives and responds to change notification request from external applications. The recording of changes can be system- initiated and can pertain to changes occurring anywhere in the file system. The recorder and broker can perform asynchronously from each other and can persist independently of the external applications.