Rx: Combine ThrottleFirst and Sample operators

If one is limited to standard operators only, this could be achieved by using publish and switching between two collection modes: direct, and buffer with time. In the latter mode, if the buffer turns out to be empty, switch back to the direct mode:

import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

import org.junit.Test;

import io.reactivex.*;
import io.reactivex.schedulers.TestScheduler;

public class ThrottleSampleTest {

    @Test
    public void test() {
        TestScheduler tsch = new TestScheduler();

        Flowable.fromArray(
                100,                // should emit 100 at T=100
                110, 120, 130, 150, // should emit 150 at T=200 
                250, 260,           // should emit 260 at T=300
                400                 // should emit 400 at T=400
        )
        .flatMap(v -> Flowable.timer(v, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, tsch).map(w -> v))
        .compose(throttleFirstSample(100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, tsch))
        .subscribe(v -> 
            System.out.println(v + " at T=" + tsch.now(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))
        );

        tsch.advanceTimeBy(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    }

    static final Exception RESTART_INDICATOR = new Exception();

    static <T> FlowableTransformer<T, T> throttleFirstSample(
            long time, TimeUnit unit, Scheduler scheduler) {
        return f ->
            f
            .publish(g ->
                g
                .take(1)
                .concatWith(
                    g
                    .buffer(time, unit, scheduler)
                    .map(v -> {
                        if (v.isEmpty()) {
                            throw RESTART_INDICATOR;
                        }
                        return v.get(v.size() - 1);
                    })
                )
                .retry(e -> e == RESTART_INDICATOR)
            )
        ;
    }
}

Edit: The alternative is to have a custom operator:

@Test
public void testObservable() {
    TestScheduler tsch = new TestScheduler();

    Observable.fromArray(
            100,                // should emit 100 at T=100
            110, 120, 130, 150, // should emit 150 at T=200 
            250, 260,           // should emit 260 at T=300
            400                 // should emit 400 at T=400
    )
    .flatMap(v -> Observable.timer(v, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, tsch).map(w -> v))
    .compose(throttleFirstSampleObservable(100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, tsch))
    .subscribe(v -> System.out.println(v + " at T=" + tsch.now(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)));

    tsch.advanceTimeBy(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
}

static <T> ObservableTransformer<T, T> throttleFirstSampleObservable(
        long time, TimeUnit unit, Scheduler scheduler) {
    return f -> new Observable<T>() {
        @Override
        protected void subscribeActual(Observer<? super T> observer) {
            f.subscribe(new ThrottleFirstSampleObserver<T>(
                observer, time, unit, scheduler.createWorker()));
        }
    };
}

static final class ThrottleFirstSampleObserver<T> 
extends AtomicInteger
implements Observer<T>, Disposable, Runnable {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 205628968660185683L;

    static final Object TIMEOUT = new Object();

    final Observer<? super T> actual;

    final Queue<Object> queue;

    final Worker worker;

    final long time;

    final TimeUnit unit;

    Disposable upstream;

    boolean latestMode;

    T latest;

    volatile boolean done;
    Throwable error;

    volatile boolean disposed;

    ThrottleFirstSampleObserver(Observer<? super T> actual, 
            long time, TimeUnit unit, Worker worker) {
        this.actual = actual;
        this.time = time;
        this.unit = unit;
        this.worker = worker;
        this.queue = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Object>();
    }

    @Override
    public void onSubscribe(Disposable d) {
        upstream = d;
        actual.onSubscribe(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onNext(T t) {
        queue.offer(t);
        drain();
    }

    @Override
    public void onError(Throwable e) {
        error = e;
        done = true;
        drain();
    }

    @Override
    public void onComplete() {
        done = true;
        drain();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isDisposed() {
        return upstream.isDisposed();
    }

    @Override
    public void dispose() {
        disposed = true;
        upstream.dispose();
        worker.dispose();
        if (getAndIncrement() == 0) {
            queue.clear();
            latest = null;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void run() {
        queue.offer(TIMEOUT);
        drain();
    }

    void drain() {
        if (getAndIncrement() != 0) {
            return;
        }

        int missed = 1;
        Observer<? super T> a = actual;
        Queue<Object> q = queue;

        for (;;) {

            for (;;) {
                if (disposed) {
                    q.clear();
                    latest = null;
                    return;
                }


                boolean d = done;
                Object v = q.poll();
                boolean empty = v == null;

                if (d && empty) {
                    if (latestMode) {
                        T u = latest;
                        latest = null;
                        if (u != null) {
                            a.onNext(u);
                        }
                    }
                    Throwable ex = error;
                    if (ex != null) {
                        a.onError(ex);
                    } else {
                        a.onComplete();
                    }
                    worker.dispose();
                    return;
                }

                if (empty) {
                    break;
                }

                if (latestMode) {
                    if (v == TIMEOUT) {
                        T u = latest;
                        latest = null;
                        if (u != null) {
                            a.onNext(u);
                            worker.schedule(this, time, unit);
                        } else {
                            latestMode = false;
                        }
                    } else {
                        latest = (T)v;
                    }
                } else {
                    latestMode = true;
                    a.onNext((T)v);
                    worker.schedule(this, time, unit);
                }
            }

            missed = addAndGet(-missed);
            if (missed == 0) {
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}