diff --git a/examples/mapt-event-time-filter/src/main.rs b/examples/mapt-event-time-filter/src/main.rs
index 6e3cef0..1b76145 100644
--- a/examples/mapt-event-time-filter/src/main.rs
+++ b/examples/mapt-event-time-filter/src/main.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let messages = filter_event_time(source_request);
 
-        assert_eq!((&messages).len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(messages.len(), 1);
         assert_eq!((&messages)[0].tags.as_ref().unwrap()[0], "within_year_2022")
     }
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let messages = filter_event_time(source_request);
 
-        assert_eq!((&messages).len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(messages.len(), 1);
         assert_eq!((&messages)[0].tags.as_ref().unwrap()[0], "after_year_2022")
     }
 
@@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ mod tests {
 
         let messages = filter_event_time(source_request);
 
-        assert_eq!((&messages).len(), 1);
-        assert_eq!((&messages)[0].tags.as_ref().unwrap()[0], "U+005C__DROP__")
+        assert_eq!(messages.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(
+            messages.first().unwrap().tags.as_ref().unwrap()[0],
+            "U+005C__DROP__"
+        )
     }
 }
diff --git a/examples/simple-source/src/main.rs b/examples/simple-source/src/main.rs
index 1fe06e9..dd842c8 100644
--- a/examples/simple-source/src/main.rs
+++ b/examples/simple-source/src/main.rs
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ pub(crate) mod simple_source {
             }
         }
 
-        async fn pending(&self) -> usize {
-            self.yet_to_ack.read().unwrap().len()
+        async fn pending(&self) -> Option<usize> {
+            self.yet_to_ack.read().unwrap().len().into()
         }
 
         async fn partitions(&self) -> Option<Vec<i32>> {
diff --git a/numaflow/src/sink.rs b/numaflow/src/sink.rs
index 5b6a751..1171256 100644
--- a/numaflow/src/sink.rs
+++ b/numaflow/src/sink.rs
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let resp = resp_stream.message().await.unwrap().unwrap();
         assert!(!resp.results.is_empty());
-        let msg = &resp.results.get(0).unwrap();
+        let msg = resp.results.first().unwrap();
         assert_eq!(msg.err_msg, "");
         assert_eq!(msg.id, "1");
 
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ mod tests {
         let resp = resp_stream.message().await.unwrap().unwrap();
         assert!(!resp.results.is_empty());
         assert!(resp.handshake.is_none());
-        let msg = &resp.results.get(0).unwrap();
+        let msg = resp.results.first().unwrap();
         assert_eq!(msg.err_msg, "");
         assert_eq!(msg.id, "2");
 
diff --git a/numaflow/src/source.rs b/numaflow/src/source.rs
index 190f9f2..40d4070 100644
--- a/numaflow/src/source.rs
+++ b/numaflow/src/source.rs
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ pub trait Sourcer {
     /// Acknowledges the message that has been processed by the user-defined source.
     async fn ack(&self, offset: Vec<Offset>);
     /// Returns the number of messages that are yet to be processed by the user-defined source.
-    async fn pending(&self) -> usize;
+    /// The None value can be returned if source doesn't support detecting the backlog.
+    async fn pending(&self) -> Option<usize>;
     /// Returns the partitions associated with the source. This will be used by the platform to determine
     /// the partitions to which the watermark should be published. Some sources might not have the concept of partitions.
     /// Kafka is an example of source where a reader can read from multiple partitions.
@@ -324,12 +325,13 @@ where
 
     async fn pending_fn(&self, _: Request<()>) -> Result<Response<proto::PendingResponse>, Status> {
         // invoke the user-defined source's pending handler
-        let pending = self.handler.pending().await;
+        let pending = match self.handler.pending().await {
+            None => -1,
+            Some(val) => i64::try_from(val).unwrap_or(i64::MAX),
+        };
 
         Ok(Response::new(proto::PendingResponse {
-            result: Some(proto::pending_response::Result {
-                count: pending as i64,
-            }),
+            result: Some(proto::pending_response::Result { count: pending }),
         }))
     }
 
@@ -613,11 +615,11 @@ mod tests {
             }
         }
 
-        async fn pending(&self) -> usize {
+        async fn pending(&self) -> Option<usize> {
             // The pending function should return the number of pending messages that can be read from the source.
             // However, for this source the pending messages will always be 0.
             // For testing purposes, we return the number of messages that are not yet acknowledged as pending.
-            self.yet_to_ack.read().unwrap().len()
+            self.yet_to_ack.read().unwrap().len().into()
         }
 
         async fn partitions(&self) -> Option<Vec<i32>> {