How is an asynchronous function such as fs.readFile written such that it is asynchronous but different from a function decorated with the async keyword? Does an async function always return a promise?
The following works:
const Area = async (L, B) => L * B;
Area(5, 4).then(
a => console.log("Area is " + a)
);
However, a function like fs.readFile after invocation will result in an undefined value.
When using a function from a third-party library, is there a way to tell that a function is asynchronous other than from its documentation?
fs.readFile implements asynchronousness through a callback, it returns nothing.
By contrast, fsPromises.readFile implements asynchronousness by returning a promise.
The callback flavor of asynchronousness can be converted into the promise flavor with the util.promisify function.
The async prefix must be applied to a function if the code in the function body makes use of the await keyword. A function with that prefix always returns a promise (like your Area), but promise-returning functions are possible without the async prefix, for example:
function timeout(ms) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
setTimeout(resolve, ms);
});
}
Whether a function is asynchronous, and if so whether it uses the callback or promise flavor should be documented. If that is not the case, you can only try out its behavior. Note that a function could have several callbacks, and perhaps also return a promise. There are more types of asynchronous behavior than just the one enabled by async.
Related
When I hover on the keyword 'function' the description says:
"(local function)(this: any, next: (err?: mongoose.CallbackError | undefined) => void): Promise<void>"
So does It return a Promise<void> or a simple <void>? I can't even understand what does this function returns? And to be honest I don't understand really well the concept of Promise<void>...
userSchema.pre('save', async function (next) {
let user = this as UserDocument;
if(!user.isModified('password')){
return next();
}
const salt = await bcrypt.genSalt(config.get<number>('saltWorkFactor'));
const hash = await bcrypt.hash(user.password, salt);
user.password = hash;
return next();
})
This question is really interesting. Your function returns a Promise<void>, which is compatible with the void return type that pre is expecting, but Mongoose is quietly smart enough to know what to do with your Promise so you don't even have to call next at all.
First some background:
void has a special meaning in TypeScript to mean that the return value could be any value; the value is frequently undefined (because that's what a function returns without a return statement) but it doesn't have to be. As in the TypeScript FAQ, this makes it convenient to accept or pass functions that return a value by indicating the return value is unused. If you need to supply a function with return type void, you could pass back a function that returns a string, Promise<void>, Promise<SomeObject>, null, undefined, or anything else.
All async functions return Promises, and this is no exception. A Promise<number> is a Promise that says that its then function will receive a number; a Promise<void> is a Promise that doesn't tell you anything about what its then function receives. The then function will still be called, unless it has an error to catch; you just don't know much about its argument.
In Mongoose's types, pre takes a PreSaveMiddlewareFunction<T> function, which is the type of the function you wrote. It accepts a function called next and returns void: Mongoose claims not to care what you return. Your middleware function is allowed to be asynchronous; when you're done you're expected to call next (with an error object, if you have one), and that call to next also returns void.
Your function passed to pre returns type Promise<void>: The function is async so it absolutely returns a promise, and your return next(); means that the Promise resolves to whatever next returns, which is defined as void. You don't know what next returns and shouldn't care about it. You don't even need to return next(), you just need to call it: It's just a callback so you can tell Mongoose your middleware is done and report any errors.
So your async function returns Promise<void>, but that works with the definition of pre: pre doesn't care what kind of return value your function has (void) as long as you call next to indicate you're done.
But wait! Reporting that your asynchronous function is done and whether or not there were errors is exactly the problem that Promises were designed to solve, and the next callback pattern is exactly the kind of pattern that Promises were designed to replace. If you're returning a Promise, why would you need to call next at all when Mongoose can just watch the promise you return?
In fact, in Mongoose 5.x or later, that's exactly what happens: If the function you pass into pre returns a Promise, then you can use that instead of calling next. You can still call next manually for compatibility's sake, but in your case you could delete return next() and everything would keep working. See the middleware docs:
In mongoose 5.x, instead of calling next() manually, you can use a function that returns a promise. In particular, you can use async/await.
schema.pre('save', function() {
return doStuff().
then(() => doMoreStuff());
});
// Or, in Node.js >= 7.6.0:
schema.pre('save', async function() {
await doStuff();
await doMoreStuff();
});
The docs further explain why return next() is a pattern at all:
If you use next(), the next() call does not stop the rest of the code in your middleware function from executing. Use the early return pattern to prevent the rest of your middleware function from running when you call next().
const schema = new Schema(..);
schema.pre('save', function(next) {
if (foo()) {
console.log('calling next!');
// `return next();` will make sure the rest of this function doesn't run
/*return*/ next();
}
// Unless you comment out the `return` above, 'after next' will print
console.log('after next');
});
In summary, the expected return type of void is compatible with the fact that you're returning a Promise<void>, but it hides the fact that recent versions of Mongoose are smart enough to check whether you're returning a Promise and do the right thing without needing a call to next. They're two different styles that both work.
Long answer short: It return a Promise<void>
Callbacks
To understand why, here are some details.
First one must understand Callbacks in node.js. Callbacks are one of the basic structure/feature of how node.js works.
You could say that node.js is basically an Event-Driven Programming "framework" (most people will frown to the framework word...). That means that you tell node that in the event of a certain thing happening, it should do a certain action/function (callback).
For node to understand us, we normally give the callback function as a parameter to another function that will do the work of "listening to the event" and executing the callback that we give it. So it is not "us" that execute the callback, it is the event listener.
In your case,
userSchema.pre('save', async function (next) {
pre is the function (a method in Mongoose's userSchema), save is the event that one must react to, async function (next) { is the callback or what must be done after the event.
You will note that your callback is returning next(), but next() returns void, which mean that your callback is returning void.
So why is it returning Promise<void>?
The fact is that in your case, your callback is an async function. And every async functions will return a promise. It is an async function because it is awaiting another promise (two promises even) inside of it. They are hidden because of the await
const salt = await bcrypt.genSalt(config.get<number>('saltWorkFactor'));
const hash = await bcrypt.hash(user.password, salt);
Note: The bcrypt methods are very expensive in terms of CPU and time (also a security feature among other things).
It also means that normally in your code
const hash = await bcrypt.hash(user.password, salt);
user.password = hash;
you couldn't have available "right away" the hash value for the user.password and, worse, you couldn't even know when it would come. Will your program stop and wait until bcrypt finish its business?
If you have many async functions, your program will be a great favourite for the slowest champion in the Olympics.
What is going on with those promises and how can we not be labelled as a geriatric program?
Promises
Here is a quick/long comment to try to explain the concept of promises.
In "normal" code, each lines of code is executed and "finished" before the next one. Ex: (with cooking)
Combine the Butter and Sugar,
Add Eggs One at a Time, etc.
Or in your code:
let user = this as UserDocument;
if(!user.isModified('password')){
return next();
}
A promise is a certain code that is executed but not finished before the next line of code. Ex:
while the cake is in the oven (promise),
you prepare the frosting,
but you can't put it until the cake in baked (the "then" action of promises).
Note: Your code is using await so there is no "explicit" then method.
You will have many example of "promises" things in everyday life. you may have heard of asynchronous code = not one after the other, not in sync, ...
Turning on an alarm to wake you in the morning, then you make the promise that you will not ignore it;
putting a reminder on the calendar then you make the promise that you will go to that job interview; etc.
All the while, you continue with your life after making those promises.
In code, a function that returns a promise will have a then method where you tell the computer what to do when when the "alarms goes off".
It is usually written like this
mypromise().then(doThisThingFunction)
const continueWithMyLife = true
In this way the then method is very similar to the callback of node.js. It is just expressed in a different way in the code and is not specific to node (callbacks are also not specific to node...).
One very important difference between them is that callbacks are something that the listener "do" and promises is something that resolves (hopefully) to a returning value.
Async/Await
Nowadays it is common to use async/await. Fortunately/unfortunately it basically hides the asynchronous behaviour. Better flow of reading the code, but also much worse understanding of promises for new programmers.
After a await, there is no then method (Or you could say that the following line of code is the then action). There is no "continuing with your life". There is only "waiting until the alarms goes off", So the next line after the await is essentially the "get out of the bed action".
That is why, in your code, the hash value is available in the next line. Basically in the "old way" to write promises
user.password = hash;
would be inside the then function.
And that is also why it is returning Promise<void>
But still, all these analogies won't really help. The best is to try it in everyday code. There is nothing like experience to understand anything.
Hey there so I'm trying to store the result of a promise in a variable because I have some code that doesn't work inside of the promise.
(I'm pretty new to node.js so a bit of explanation would be awesome!)
And how would I use a async await?
Heres my current code:
const rbx = require("noblox.js")
var myblurb;
rbx.getBlurb(166962499).then(function (blurb) {
myblurb = blurb;
});
console.log(myblurb);
The function that sets your variable will get called after your function completes, not during it. Therefore your variable is still undefined after calling rbx.getBlurb because it returns a promise that will complete later on.
Using async/await:
One way to get what you're after is to use await. This can only be done within a function that is declared as async, and that will mean the function now will also return a Promise. If you're okay with that, then you can do it like this:
async function doStuff() {
var myblurb;
myblurb = await rbx.getBlurb(166962499);
console.log(myblurb);
}
This tells your function to stop and wait until the promise from calling getBlurb has resolved, and assign the resolved value to your local variable.
Note that if there's an error (either a promise rejection or a thrown exception) then your function will pass that along. You could surround it all with a try/catch to handle that if you need.
Operating Within then
If you don't want to make your function return a promise then you could alternately do this:
rbx.getBlurb(166962499).then(function (blurb) {
const myblurb = blurb;
console.log(myblurb);
// myblurb is only useful within this 'then' resolve function
});
It just means that you have to do the rest of your functionality that relies on the myblurb variable within that resolve function of the then.
Note that whoever is calling this code needs to understand that it will be asynchronous, so it should either use a callback function or Promise to give its results back to the caller (if needed)
Your callback function where assignment is happening will be called after promise is called. Console.log will be executed before that. So it will always log undefined.
You have to do console.log inside function of you can also use async await so solve this.
exports.handler = async (event, context, callback) => {
try {
const { headers, body } = event;
//This is where I forgot the "await" keyword
const input = ValidateInput(body); //Returns Promise
callback(null, true);
}catch(err){
console.log(err);
callback(null, false);
}
}
When calling a function that returns a promise and forgetting to create an await expression promise function call, and that function rejects the promise, Lambda logs this error in cloudwatch
(node:1) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: #<Object>
The fix is simple, don't forget the await expression
const input = await ValidateInput(body); //Return Promise
The fix is simple, don't forget the await expression
const input = await ValidateInput(body); //Return Promise
As already mentioned, the solution is to ensure you await the promise:
const input = await ValidateInput(body);
But I thought I'd add a little context around why this occurs.
Since Promises can be stored in variables and chained at any point, there's no way for the library to know whether or not a Promise chain will have a .catch associated with it some time in the future. Many libraries therefore have a default behaviour of writing to the console if the rejected Promise has not been handled within a number of passes of the event loop; which is why you see this in the log.
You should generally take this warning as implying that you haven't awaited something you should have. As in reality, it's rare that you'd see it on purpose.
The AWS doc explicitly says you don't use callback with an async function.
The third argument, callback, is a function that you can call in
non-async functions to send a response. The callback function takes
two arguments: an Error and a response. The response object must be
compatible with JSON.stringify.
For async functions, you return a response, error, or promise to the
runtime instead of using callback.
So, you may want to fix that in your lambda function.
See here : https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/nodejs-prog-model-handler.html#nodejs-prog-model-handler-callback
I'm struggling a bit with async/await and returning a value from a Promise.
function test () {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
resolve('Hello')
})
}
async function c() {
await test()
}
As I understood things I should be able to get a value by doing:
console.log(c())
But clearly I am missing a point here as this returns a promise. Shouldn't it print "hello"? On a similar note I am unclear as to whether a callback needs to be converted to a promise before wrapping it in async/await?
I am missing a point here as this returns a promise. Shouldn't console.log(c()) print "hello"?
No, async functions always return promises. They're not magically running asynchronous code synchronously - rather the reverse, they turn synchronous-looking code (albeit speckled with await keywords) into asynchronously running one.
You can get the result value inside the asynchronous function:
async function c() {
const result = await test()
console.log(result);
return 'World';
}
c().then(console.log);
I am unclear as to whether a callback needs to be converted to a promise before wrapping it in async/await?
Yes, you can await only promises. See How do I convert an existing callback API to promises? for how to do the conversion.
Async functions return a Promise. If the function throws an error, the
Promise will be rejected. If the function returns a value, the Promise
will be resolved.
I'm currently experimenting with promises and have a really basic question!
Within a promise chain, would it be bad practice to call a synchronous function? For example:
.then(function(results) {
if(checkIfResultInMemory(results) === true){
return getTotalFromMemory()
}
return results;
})
Or should my sync functions be refactored to return promises also?
Within a promise chain, would it be bad practice to call a synchronous
function?
No, it is not a bad practice at all. It is one of many expected and useful practices.
You are perfectly free to call either synchronous functions within the promise chain (from within .then() handlers) or asynchronous functions that then return a new promise.
When you return something from a .then() handler, you can return either a value (which becomes the resolved value of the parent promise) or you can return another promise (which chains onto the previous promise) or you can throw which works like returning a rejected promise (the promise chain becomes rejected).
So, that means you can call a synchronous function and get a value from it or call an async function and get another promise and then return either from the .then() handler.
All of these synchronous things are perfectly legal and each have their own objective. Here are some synchronous happenings in the .then() handler:
// modify resolved value
someAsync().then(function(val) {
return val + 12;
});
// modify resolved value by calling some synchronous function to process it
someAsync().then(function(val) {
return someSynchronousFunction(val);
});
// synchronously check the value and throw to change the promise chain
// to rejected
someAsync().then(function(val) {
if (val < 0) {
throw new Error("value can't be less than zero");
}
return val;
});
// synchronously check the value and return a rejected promise
// to change the promise chain to rejected
someAsync().then(function(val) {
if (val < 0) {
return Promise.reject("value can't be less than zero");
}
return val;
});
Here's a little example of an async operation that returns a promise followed by three synchronous .then() handlers and then outputting the final value:
function delay(t, val) {
return new Promise(function(resolve) {
setTimeout(function() {
resolve(val);
}, t);
});
}
function increment5(val) {
return val + 5;
}
delay(500, 10).then(increment5).then(function(val) {
return val - 3;
}).then(function(final) {
document.write(final);
});
Note: You only generally only want to use promises when you have or may have asynchronous operations because if everything is synchronous, then pure synchronous code is both faster to execute and easier to write. But, if you already have at least one async operation, you can certainly mix synchronous operations with that async operation and use promises to help structure the code.
A then callback function should:
return another promise
return a synchronous value (or undefined)
throw a synchronous error