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Actually Understanding Asynchronous JavaScript
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Steve Kinney
August 04, 2016
Technology
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Actually Understanding Asynchronous JavaScript
Steve Kinney
August 04, 2016
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Transcript
Actually Understanding Asynchronous JavaScript
I'm Steve. @stevekinney
I'm Steve. @stevekinney
http://turing.io
http://bit.ly/electronjs
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PSA: Stop me ay any point to ask any and
all questions.
What does "asynchronous" even mean?
To find out, let's torture some metaphors!
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Running Errands Synchronously
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Running Errands Asynchronously
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Functions Run to Completion
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What constitutes "completion?" • Hitting the end of a function
• Reaching a return statement • Throwing an error (and not catching it)
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What Happens When the Browser Blocks?
What Happens When the Browser Blocks?
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Asynchronous JavaScript is based on events.
document.addEventListener('click', function () { alert('Congratulations, you clicked on the web
page.'); });
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The Call Stack A data structure that keeps track of
where we are in the execution of our programs.
var possessions = []; var lifeSavings = 25; function goGroceryShopping()
{ buyVeganHam(); } function buyVeganHam() { if (lifeSavings < 10) { throw new Error('Not enough money.'); } lifeSavings = lifeSavings - 10; possessions.push('vegan ham'); } goGroceryShopping();
Call Stack
Top Level Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHam Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack
Top Level Call Stack
Call Stack
var possessions = []; var lifeSavings = 25; function goGroceryShopping()
{ buyOrganicAlmondMilk(); buyVeganHam(); } function buyOrganicAlmondMilk() { lifeSavings = lifeSavings - 20; possessions.push('organic almond milk'); } function buyVeganHam() { // When this code eventually executes, we'll only have $5 left. if (lifeSavings < 10) { throw new Error('Not enough money.'); } lifeSavings = lifeSavings - 10; possessions.push('vegan ham'); } goGroceryShopping();
You've seen the Call Stack before.
Call Stack
Top Level Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping buyOrganicAlmondMilk Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack buyVeganHam
Top Level goGroceryShopping Call Stack
Top Level Call Stack
Call Stack
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The Event Queue A list of functions that are handled
in a first-in, first-out order.
The Event Loop A programming construct that waits for and
dispatches functions in the Event Queue to the Call Stack.
Queue
Queue A very important click event Some mildly important AJAX
response A frivolous click event
Queue Some mildly important AJAX response A frivolous click event
Queue A frivolous click event
Queue
Queue Call Stack
Queue Call Stack Some mildly important AJAX response
Queue Call Stack Some mildly important AJAX response
Queue A very important click event Call Stack
Queue A very important click event A frivolous click event
Call Stack
Queue A very important click event A frivolous click event
Call Stack
Queue A frivolous click event Call Stack
Queue A frivolous click event Call Stack
Queue Call Stack
Turns out that JavaScript isn't asynchronous after all.
It's the environment.
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setTimeout(function () { console.log('I will happen later.'); }, 5000); Timers
setTimeout is available in all browsers and Node.js
Timers will be added to the Event Queue after that
number of milliseconds.
Queue Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHams Call Stack
Queue Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHams Call Stack setTimeout(…, 1000)
Queue Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHams Call Stack setTimeout(…, 1000)
Queue Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHams Call Stack thisWillBlockUpTheWorksAndNeverComplete setTimeout(…, 1000)
Queue Top Level goGroceryShopping buyVeganHams Call Stack thisWillBlockUpTheWorksAndNeverComplete setTimeout(…, 1000)
The Callback Pattern
Callbacks aren't anything special.
Functions can be passed as arguments to functions.
function callbackSandwich(callbackFunction) { console.log('Top piece of bread.'); callbackFunction(); console.log('Bottom piece
of bread.'); } callbackSandwich(function () {console.log('American cheese.')});
Sometimes we'll guard against blowing things up if a callback
function isn't provided.
function callbackSandwich(callbackFunction) { console.log('Top piece of bread.'); if (typeof callbackFunction
=== 'function') callbackFunction(); console.log('Bottom piece of bread.'); } callbackSandwich(function () {console.log('American cheese.')}); callbackSandwich(); // Just two pieces of bread.
From Events Listeners to Callbacks
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So now…
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Promises
Callbacks have some problems.
We can usually only do one thing with the data
from the event.
We can't store the result anywhere.
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"Inversion of Control"
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Libraries: Q, Bluebird, RSVP
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.then()
Promise Chaining
asyncMultiply(2, 3).then(c => c * 1000).then(c => console.log(c)); Promise Chaining
The return value of the previous link is passed to the next then() method.
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asyncMultiply(2, 3).then(c => c * 1000) .then(c => { throw
new Error('KABOOM!') }) .catch(e => console.error(e));
asyncMultiply(2, 3).then(c => c * 1000) .then(c => { throw
new Error('KABOOM!') })
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Refactoring Our Callback Pattern
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Promise.all() http://bit.ly/async- lab-promise-all
Promise.race()
http://turing.io http://bit.ly/electronjs