diff --git a/dub.sdl b/dub.sdl
index 004b1b9..d9e1204 100644
--- a/dub.sdl
+++ b/dub.sdl
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ authors "Sönke Ludwig"
 copyright "Copyright © 2016, rejectedsoftware e.K."
 license "MIT"
 
-dependency "eventcore" version="~>0.6.0"
+dependency "eventcore" version="~>0.7.0"
 
 targetName "vibe_core"
 
diff --git a/source/vibe/core/file.d b/source/vibe/core/file.d
index ea0d463..cddcd52 100644
--- a/source/vibe/core/file.d
+++ b/source/vibe/core/file.d
@@ -458,25 +458,38 @@ struct FileStream {
 		return null;
 	}
 
-	void read(ubyte[] dst)
+	size_t read(ubyte[] dst, IOMode mode)
 	{	
 		auto res = asyncAwait!(FileIOCallback,
-			cb => eventDriver.files.read(m_fd, ctx.ptr, dst, cb),
+			cb => eventDriver.files.read(m_fd, ctx.ptr, dst, mode, cb),
 			cb => eventDriver.files.cancelRead(m_fd)
 		);
 		enforce(res[1] == IOStatus.ok, "Failed to read data from disk.");
+		return res[2];
 	}
 
-	void write(in ubyte[] bytes)
+	void read(ubyte[] dst)
+	{
+		auto ret = read(dst, IOMode.all);
+		assert(ret == dst.length);
+	}
+
+	size_t write(in ubyte[] bytes, IOMode mode)
 	{
 		auto res = asyncAwait!(FileIOCallback,
-			cb => eventDriver.files.write(m_fd, ctx.ptr, bytes, cb),
+			cb => eventDriver.files.write(m_fd, ctx.ptr, bytes, mode, cb),
 			cb => eventDriver.files.cancelWrite(m_fd)
 		);
 		ctx.ptr += res[2];
 logDebug("Written %s", res[2]);
 		if (ctx.ptr > ctx.size) ctx.size = ctx.ptr;
 		enforce(res[1] == IOStatus.ok, "Failed to read data from disk.");
+		return res[2];
+	}
+
+	void write(in ubyte[] bytes)
+	{
+		write(bytes, IOMode.all);
 	}
 
 	void write(in char[] bytes)
diff --git a/source/vibe/core/net.d b/source/vibe/core/net.d
index bc1fd75..2aa87d8 100644
--- a/source/vibe/core/net.d
+++ b/source/vibe/core/net.d
@@ -512,28 +512,37 @@ mixin(tracer);
 		});
 	}
 
-	void read(ubyte[] dst)
+	size_t read(scope ubyte[] dst, IOMode mode)
 	{
 mixin(tracer);
 		import std.algorithm.comparison : min;
-		if (!dst.length) return;
+		if (!dst.length) return 0;
+		size_t nbytes = 0;
 		m_context.readTimeout.loopWithTimeout!((remaining) {
-			enforce(waitForData(), "Reached end of stream while reading data.");
+			if (m_context.readBuffer.length == 0) {
+				if (mode == IOMode.immediate || mode == IOMode.once && nbytes > 0)
+					return true;
+				enforce(waitForData(remaining), "Reached end of stream while reading data.");
+			}
 			assert(m_context.readBuffer.length > 0);
 			auto l = min(dst.length, m_context.readBuffer.length);
 			m_context.readBuffer.read(dst[0 .. l]);
 			dst = dst[l .. $];
+			nbytes += l;
 			return dst.length == 0;
 		});
+		return nbytes;
 	}
 
-	void write(in ubyte[] bytes)
+	void read(scope ubyte[] dst) { auto r = read(dst, IOMode.all); assert(r == dst.length); }
+
+	size_t write(in ubyte[] bytes, IOMode mode)
 	{
 mixin(tracer);
-		if (bytes.length == 0) return;
+		if (bytes.length == 0) return 0;
 
 		auto res = asyncAwait!(IOCallback,
-			cb => eventDriver.sockets.write(m_socket, bytes, IOMode.all, cb),
+			cb => eventDriver.sockets.write(m_socket, bytes, mode, cb),
 			cb => eventDriver.sockets.cancelWrite(m_socket));
 		
 		switch (res[1]) {
@@ -541,10 +550,12 @@ mixin(tracer);
 				throw new Exception("Error writing data to socket.");
 			case IOStatus.ok: break;
 			case IOStatus.disconnected: break;
-
 		}
+
+		return res[2];
 	}
 
+	void write(in ubyte[] bytes) { auto r = write(bytes, IOMode.all); assert(r == bytes.length); }
 	void write(in char[] bytes) { write(cast(const(ubyte)[])bytes); }
 	void write(InputStream stream) { write(stream, 0); }
 
diff --git a/source/vibe/core/stream.d b/source/vibe/core/stream.d
index e5264a6..d25b939 100644
--- a/source/vibe/core/stream.d
+++ b/source/vibe/core/stream.d
@@ -21,6 +21,19 @@ import core.time;
 import std.algorithm;
 import std.conv;
 
+public import eventcore.driver : IOMode;
+
+
+/** Marks a function as blocking.
+
+	Blocking in this case means that it may contain an operation that needs to wait for
+	external events, such as I/O operations, and may result in other tasks in the same
+	threa being executed before it returns.
+
+	Currently this attribute serves only as a documentation aid and is not enforced
+	or used for deducation in any way.
+*/
+struct blocking {}
 
 /**************************************************************************************************/
 /* Public functions                                                                               */
@@ -50,16 +63,20 @@ interface InputStream {
 	@safe:
 
 	/** Returns true $(I iff) the end of the input stream has been reached.
-	*/
-	@property bool empty();
 
-	/**	Returns the maximum number of bytes that are known to remain in this stream until the end is
-		reached. After `leastSize()` bytes have been read, the stream will either have reached EOS
-		and `empty()` returns `true`, or `leastSize()` returns again a number greater than 0.
+		For connection oriented streams, this function will block until either
+		new data arrives or the connection got closed.
 	*/
-	@property ulong leastSize();
+	@property bool empty() @blocking;
 
-	/** Queries if there is data available for immediate, non-blocking read.
+	/**	(Scheduled for deprecation) Returns the maximum number of bytes that are known to remain available for read.
+
+		After `leastSize()` bytes have been read, the stream will either have reached EOS
+		and `empty()` returns `true`, or `leastSize()` returns again a number greater than `0`.
+	*/
+	@property ulong leastSize() @blocking;
+
+	/** (Scheduled for deprecation) Queries if there is data available for immediate, non-blocking read.
 	*/
 	@property bool dataAvailableForRead();
 
@@ -76,11 +93,28 @@ interface InputStream {
 
 	/**	Fills the preallocated array 'bytes' with data from the stream.
 
+		This function will continue read from the stream until the buffer has
+		been fully filled.
+
+		Params:
+			dst = The buffer into which to write the data that was read
+			mode = Optional reading mode (defaults to `IOMode.all`).
+
+		Return:
+			Returns the number of bytes read. The `dst` buffer will be filled up
+			to this index. The return value is guaranteed to be `dst.length` for
+			`IOMode.all`.
+
 		Throws: An exception if the operation reads past the end of the stream
+
+		See_Also: `readOnce`, `tryRead`
 	*/
-	void read(ubyte[] dst);
+	size_t read(scope ubyte[] dst, IOMode mode) @blocking;
+	/// ditto
+	final void read(scope ubyte[] dst) @blocking { auto n = read(dst, IOMode.all); assert(n == dst.length); }
 }
 
+
 /**
 	Interface for all classes implementing writeable streams.
 */
@@ -89,25 +123,25 @@ interface OutputStream {
 
 	/** Writes an array of bytes to the stream.
 	*/
-	void write(in ubyte[] bytes);
+	size_t write(in ubyte[] bytes, IOMode mode) @blocking;
+	/// ditto
+	final void write(in ubyte[] bytes) @blocking { auto n = write(bytes, IOMode.all); assert(n == bytes.length); }
+	/// ditto
+	final void write(in char[] bytes) @blocking { write(cast(const(ubyte)[])bytes); }
 
 	/** Flushes the stream and makes sure that all data is being written to the output device.
 	*/
-	void flush();
+	void flush() @blocking;
 
 	/** Flushes and finalizes the stream.
 
 		Finalize has to be called on certain types of streams. No writes are possible after a
 		call to finalize().
 	*/
-	void finalize();
+	void finalize() @blocking;
 
 	/** Writes an array of chars to the stream.
 	*/
-	final void write(in char[] bytes)
-	{
-		write(cast(const(ubyte)[])bytes);
-	}
 
 	/** Pipes an InputStream directly into this OutputStream.
 
@@ -115,12 +149,12 @@ interface OutputStream {
 		`nbytes` for `nbytes > 0`. If the input stream contains less than `nbytes` of data, an
 		exception is thrown.
 	*/
-	void write(InputStream stream, ulong nbytes);
+	void write(InputStream stream, ulong nbytes) @blocking;
 	/// ditto
-	final void write(InputStream stream) { write(stream, 0); }
+	final void write(InputStream stream) @blocking { write(stream, ulong.max); }
 
 	protected final void writeDefault(InputStream stream, ulong nbytes = 0)
-		@trusted // FreeListRef
+		@trusted @blocking // FreeListRef
 	{
 		import vibe.internal.allocator : theAllocator, make, dispose;
 
@@ -130,7 +164,7 @@ interface OutputStream {
 		auto buffer = bufferobj.bytes;
 
 		//logTrace("default write %d bytes, empty=%s", nbytes, stream.empty);
-		if( nbytes == 0 ){
+		if (nbytes == 0 || nbytes == ulong.max) {
 			while( !stream.empty ){
 				size_t chunk = min(stream.leastSize, buffer.length);
 				assert(chunk > 0, "leastSize returned zero for non-empty stream.");
@@ -184,7 +218,7 @@ interface ConnectionStream : Stream {
 		Closing a connection implies a call to `finalize`, so that it doesn't need to be called
 		explicitly (it will be a no-op in that case).
 	*/
-	void close();
+	void close() @blocking;
 
 	/** Blocks until data becomes available for read.
 
@@ -199,7 +233,7 @@ interface ConnectionStream : Stream {
 			The function will return `true` if data becomes available before the timeout is reached.
 			If the connection gets closed, or the timeout gets reached, `false` is returned instead.
 	*/
-	bool waitForData(Duration timeout = Duration.max);
+	bool waitForData(Duration timeout = Duration.max) @blocking;
 }
 
 
@@ -219,7 +253,7 @@ interface RandomAccessStream : Stream {
 	@property bool writable() const nothrow;
 
 	/// Seeks to a specific position in the file if supported by the stream.
-	void seek(ulong offset);
+	void seek(ulong offset) @blocking;
 
 	/// Returns the current offset of the file pointer
 	ulong tell() nothrow;
@@ -233,11 +267,12 @@ interface RandomAccessStream : Stream {
 	the output of a particular stream is not needed but the stream needs to be drained.
 */
 final class NullOutputStream : OutputStream {
-	void write(in ubyte[] bytes) {}
-	void write(InputStream stream, ulong nbytes = 0)
+	size_t write(in ubyte[] bytes, IOMode) { return bytes.length; }
+	void write(InputStream stream, ulong nbytes)
 	{
 		writeDefault(stream, nbytes);
 	}
+	alias write = OutputStream.write;
 	void flush() {}
 	void finalize() {}
 }