Introduction to Asynchronous Javascript
Asynchronous JavaScript the best described as being able to multitask while running one program and working on another program. In the other words, asynchronous coding allows you to work on other tasks while that code is running if your program is running a particularly long task.
Synchronous Code
JavaScript is a very fast language, but some actions require time, no matter how little. In this case, for example, of a request to a database that may take some time or even a complex mathematical calculation, synchronous code execution will at least block the rest of the code or break it.
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Now, give the example below of synchronous code
const showGreeting = <span class="hljs-function"><span class="hljs-params">(content)</span> =></span> { <span class="hljs-built_in">console</span>.log(content); } const runMeFirst = <span class="hljs-function"><span class="hljs-params">()</span> =></span> { showGreeting(<span class="hljs-string">"Hello"</span>); } const runMeNext = <span class="hljs-function"><span class="hljs-params">()</span> =></span> { showGreeting(<span class="hljs-string">"World!"</span>); } runMeFirst(); runMeNext();
Asynchronous Execution
So, there are three ways to run code asynchronously like below:
- Callback functions
- Promises (ES6)
- Async/Await (ES8)
Callback Functions
Firstly, Callbacks are the original way JavaScript used to run code asynchronously. It basically is a function that is passed as a parameter to another function. Callbacks are executed when the previous one has finished.
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For our code above, this is an implementation of asynchronously running the code above check the below code:
const showGreeting = (content) => { console.log(content); }; const runMeFirst = (callback) => { setTimeout(() => { showGreeting('Hello'); callback(); }, 1000); }; const runMeNext = () => { showGreeting('World!'); }; runMeFirst(runMeNext);
Promises
We can say, a promise is an object that represents the eventual completion or failure of an asynchronous operation. In other words, it is an object that represents an operation that has not been completed yet.
const runMeFirst = () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => { setTimeout(() => { showGreeting('Hello'); // Error handling would be needed here. // For the sake of our example let's assume that the fetch request was successful. const error = false; if (!error) { // If there's no error we resolve the promise. resolve(); } else { // If there's an error we reject it and handle the error. reject(new Error('Something went wrong')); } }, 1000); });
Now let’s see below incorporate our new function into our code:
const showGreeting = (content) => { console.log(content); }; const runMeFirst = () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => { setTimeout(() => { showGreeting('Hello'); const error = false; if (!error) { resolve(); } else { reject(new Error('Something went wrong')); } }, 1000); }); const runMeNext = () => { showGreeting('World!'); }; runMeFirst() .then(runMeNext) .catch((err) => console.log(err)
Async/Await
Here, a newer way to handle asynchronous code was made available with the introduction of the async and await keywords in ES8 (or ES2017).
Finally, our previous example can then be rewritten as below:
const showGreeting = (content) => { console.log(content); }; // The function returns a promise. const runMeFirst = () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => { setTimeout(() => { showGreeting('Hello'); const error = false; if (!error) { resolve(); } else { reject(new Error('Something went wrong')) } }, 1000); }); // The synchronous function. const runMeNext = () => { showGreeting('World!'); }; // The new asynchronous function using async/await. const init = async () => { await runMeFirst(); runMeNext(); }; // Call the new asynchronous function. init();
Conclusion
Lastly, we can say, that Asynchronous JavaScript unleashes the full power the language has to offer. Also, the Asynchronous relatively recent introduction of progressive ways to use it makes us be sure of the health and future of JavaScript.
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