Storing function call results for later referall - javascript

I've been trying to read as much as I can about javascript callbacks and jquery deferred objects but apparently things just aren't clicking for me. It seems to make a vague amount of sense when I read through it and practice examples, but when I try to apply it to my specific problem, I'm just hitting a wall. If anyone can understand what I'm trying to do and offer ideas, it would be much appreciated!
Here's some existing code:
$(document).ready(function() {
firstFunction();
secondFunction();
});
For the sake of keeping things simple here, I won't get into what firstFunction() and secondFunction() do, but suffice it to say that they both perform asynchronous work.
Here's my problem:
firstFunction() is dependent on the document being ready so needs to be inside $(document).ready(function() { }. secondFunction() isn't dependent on $(document).ready(function(), but should only execute after firstFunction has completed. I'm hoping to do all the computation for secondFunction() before the $(document).ready(function() { } block, but only execute it after firstFunction() has completed. This way firstFunction and secondFunction will execute in a more visually seamless manner. So basically, I'd like to do something like the following pseudo code:
var deferredSecondFunction = secondFunction().compute().defer(); //perform computation for secondFunction but defer execution
$(document).ready(function() {
firstFunction().done.execute(deferredSecondFunction().execute()); //finally execute secondFunction once firstFunction has completed.
});
Does anyone know if this is even possible? An important caveat is that I need to do this without the Javascript Promise object, since, for reasons outside the scope of this question, the webkit I'm working with is an old version. If anyone could help me understand this it would be appreciated!

The code shown uses a callback function and a self-invoking anonymous JavaScript function such has:
var calculatedObject;
(function(){
// Will be executed as soon as browser interprets it.
// write code here & save your calculations/operations
calculatedObject = { ... };
})();
function firstFunction(callback){
// Do stuff
callback();
}
function secondFunction(){
// Do more stuff
// Use your calculations saved in the calculated object.
}
$(document).ready(function(){
firstFunction(secondFunction);
});
This way the second function will only be called at the end of the first one.

you can use a callback..
function f1(){
//do some stuff
}
function f2(callback){
// do some async stuff
callback();
}
f2(f1);
this example passes one function to another function. the second function then calls the first whenever it's ready.

Related

Javascript Callback functions vs just calling functions

So i don't really understand the point of "callback".
Here is an example of callback:
function sayBye(){
alert("Bye!");
}
function saySeeYou(){
alert("See you!");
}
function sayHello(name,myfunc){
alert("Hello");
myfunc;
}
sayHello("Max",saySeeYou());
Whats the point of passing in a function when you can just call the function? like this code does the exact same:
function sayBye(){
alert("Bye!");
}
function saySeeYou(){
alert("See you!");
}
function sayHello(name){
alert("Hello");
saySeeYou();
}
sayHello("Max");
Whats the point of passing in a function when you can just call the function?
Usually, callbacks Javascript are used in Javascript for code that you want to run in the future. The simplest example is setTimeout: if you call the callback now then the code runs immedieately instead of after 500 ms.
//prints with a delay
console.log("Hello");
setTimeout(function(){
console.log("Bye");
}, 500);
//no delay this time
console.log("Hello");
console.log("Bye");
Of course, it would be really neat if we could write something along the lines of
//fake Javascript:
console.log("Hello");
wait(500);
console.log("Bye");
But sadly Javascript doesnt let you do that. Javascript is strictly single-threaded so the only way to code the wait function would be to pause the execution of any scripts in the page for 500 ms, which would "freeze" things in an unresponsive state. Because of this, operations that take a long time to complete, like timeouts or AJAX requests usually use callbacks to signal when they are done instead of blocking execution and then returning when done.
By the way, when passing callbacks you should only pass the function name. If you add the parenthesis you are instead calling the function and passing its return value instead:
//When you write
foo(10, mycallback());
//You are actually doing
var res = mycallback();
foo(10, res);
//which will run things in the wrong order
Your code is not correct as Felix Kling already pointed out. Besides this, passing a function instead of calling one directly allows you to insert different behavior, your code is more decoupled and flexible. Here an example:
function sayBye(){
alert("Bye!");
}
function saySeeYou(){
alert("See you!");
}
function sayHello(name,myfunc){
alert("Hello");
if (myfunc) {
myfunc();
}
}
sayHello("Max",saySeeYou);
// I'm inserting a different behavior. Now instead of displayng "See you!"
// will show "Bye!".
sayHello("Max",sayBye);
You are doing it wrong, you should do like bellow
Don't call the function just pass the function as callback
use this
sayHello("Max",saySeeYou); //here the second parameter is function
instead of
sayHello("Max",saySeeYou());//This will put the result of saySeeYou as second parameter
in say hello call the functiom
function sayHello(name,myfunc){
console.log("Hello");
myfunc();
}

firing query / javascript functions in the right order

This is a simple question, but one i've only seen answered with complex specific examples.
I want to run three functions in order, one after the previous one has finished.
f1();
f2();
f3();
I'm really struggling to do in javascript(/jquery)?! even if i define f1 as:
function f1(){
f1s normal code;
f2();
}
it will still start f2 before f1 has finished its work. I've tried .whens and .done or .thens. I've tried making callback functions with some success. but if someone could cleanly answer this simple example it would help me so much to understand.
thanks in advance!
as long as there is no asynchronous code running in the bodies of the 3 methods, they will always run in order. if you have asynchronous code (ie ajax calls) then you will want to use callback methods.
You need to use callbacks, maybe this helps?
http://jsfiddle.net/2heHs/
Also look at: https://github.com/leesherwood/jquery-function-stack
This is something i chucked up on github. Its not really intended for everyone to use just yet as i mainly needed it for a private project. But if you can make sense of it then feel free to use it. I will be making it cleaner and adding a lot more stuff too it when i get time. Of course you need to be using jquery to use it.
javascript is, by nature, single threaded and sequential. the only way around this is ajax and html5 workers.
that being said, if you want to run three separate functions in order, javascript does that by nature:
var func1 = function () {
console.log('func1 ran');
};
var func2 = function () {
console.log('func2 ran');
};
var func3 = function () {
console.log('func3 ran');
};
// run them in order
func1();
func2();
func3();
http://jsfiddle.net/jbabey/cxxLY/

How does one use $.deferred properly with non-observable functions?

Let's say for example that I have two functions with random code inside and also that based on the user's system (slow, medium, or fast) there is no way to tell how long the two functions will take to complete, so the use of setTimeout is not practical when trying to fire function2 only after function1 is complete.
How can you use jQuery.deferred to make function2 fire only after function1 no matter what the time requirements are, and considering that both functions are 100% non-jQuery functions with no jQuery code inside them and therefore completely un-observable by jQuery? At the very most, the functions might include jQuery methods like .css() which do not have a time association and can run slower on old computers.
How do I assure that function2 is not executing at the same time as function1 if I call them like this:
function1(); function2();
using $.deferred? Any other answers besides those regarding $.deferred are also welcome!
ADDED March 20:
What if function1() is a lambda function where, depending on user input, the function may or may not have asynchronous calls and it is not possible to tell how many operations the function will do? It'd be a function where you wouldn't have any clue as to what would happen next, but no matter what, you'd still want function2 to execute only after everything from the lambda function (function1) is done, no matter how long it takes but as long as the asynchronous aspects are completed. How can this be achieved?
ADDED March 22:
So I guess the only way to do what I'm asking is to pass anonymous functions as callbacks to asynchromous functions that execute the callbacks after they are done, or to create event listeners that will do execute what you want when the event is finally triggered.
There's not really any way to just execute to asynchronous calls on two seperate lines and have them fire in order without manually constructing mechanisms (event handlers) within the frame containing the said functions to handle the actual execution of their actions.
A good example of these types of mechanisms would be jQuery's .queue() method and $.Defferred object.
The answers below along with reading up on jQuery's API on .queue()ing and using $.Deferred helped clarify this.
Tgr gave a great example below on how to create custom chainable functions using jQuery's $.Deferred object, and the custom functions themselves don't necessarily have to have any jQuery code inside them, which is exactly what I was looking for.
function first(deferred) {
// do stuff
deferred.resolve();
}
function second() {
// do stuff
}
$.Deferred(first).then(second);
But as Tomalak pointed out, this is unnecessary, unless you do something very tricky in first (like utilising web workers).
Update:
The basic idea is that whenever you do something that is not immediate, you create a Deferred object, and return that. (jQuery's AJAX calls already do this.) You can then use Deferred.then to delay follow-up operations.
function first() {
var deferred = $.Deferred();
var callback = function() {
deferred.resolve();
}
// do immediate stuff
someAsyncOperation(callback);
return deferred.promise(); // turns the Deferred into a Promise, which
// means that resolve() will not be accessible
}
function second() {
// do stuff
}
first().then(second); // or: $.when(first).then(second)
If second is also an asynchronous operation, you can use $.when's merging capabilities:
function second() {
var anotherDeferred = $.Deferred();
// do stuff with anotherDeferred
return anotherDeferred.promise();
}
$.when(first(), second()).then(third); // third will run at the moment when
// both first and second are done
JavaScript itself is not asynchronous. It is single-threaded, synchronous.
function1();
function2();
will execute one after another unless they contain asynchronous calls. In that case, there will always be a callback you can pass (like onSuccess for XmlHttpRequest). Place the second function there.
To say the truth, they strictly execute one after another even if they contain asynchronous bits. It's just that the asynchronous bits might not yet be finished when the rest of the function is.
EDIT Your jsFiddle example, fixed (see it):
function foo() {
$('#foo')
.html('<span>foo1</span>')
.animate(
{ /* properties */
left: '100px'
},
360, /* duration */
'swing', /* easing */
function () { /* "complete" callback */
$('#foo').append('<span>foo2</span>');
bar();
}
);
}
As I said. There will always be a callback you can pass.

Pausing until a callback is called, in Javascript

I'm fairly new to the callback-style of programming in javascript.
Is there a way to force code to wait until a function call finishes via a callback?
Let me explain.
The following function takes a number and returns a result based upon it.
function get_expensive_thing(n) {
return fetch_from_disk(n);
}
So far, easy enough.
But what do I do when fetch_from_disk instead returns its result via a callback?
Like so:
function get_expensive_thing(n) {
fetch_from_disk(n, function(answer) {
return answer; // Does not work
});
}
The above doesn't work because the return is in the scope of the anonymous function,
rather than the get_expensive_thing function.
There are two possible "solutions", but both are inadequate.
One is to refactor get_expensive_thing to itself answer with a callback:
function get_expensive_thing(n, callback) {
fetch_from_disk(n, function(answer) {
callback(answer);
});
}
The other is to recode fetch_from_disk, but this is not an option.
How can we achieve the desired result
while keeping the desired behaviour of get_expensive_thing
-- i.e., wait until fetch_from_disk calls the callback, then return that answer?
Pretty much there's no "waiting" in browser Javascript. It's all about callbacks. Remember that your callbacks can be "closures", which means definitions of functions that "capture" local variables from the context in which they were created.
You'll be a happier person if you embrace this way of doing things.
add in that missing return :)
function get_expensive_thing(n) {
return fetch_from_disk(n, function(answer) {
return answer;
});
}

How can I call a function at the very end of document.ready

I have multiple document.ready functions on a page and I want a function to be called when all my document.ready functions have been executed. I simply want the function to be called
at the very end, after all other document.ready functions have executed.
An example of this could be that each document.ready function increments a global variable when it has been executed, and the last function needs to check the value of that variable at the very end.
Any ideas ?
This will be enough:
$(function () {
window.setTimeout(function () {
// your stuff here
}, 0);
});
This postpones the execution of your function after all other in the document ready queue are executed.
First idea (for small apps): Tidy up
You can just put everything in one $().ready() call. It might nieed refactoring, but it's the right thing to do in most cases.
Second idea: A Mediator [pattern]
Create a mediator class that will register functions and call its register() instead of $().ready(). When all functions are registered You just loop over the collection and run them in the single and only $().ready() and You have a point in code that is just after all is executed.
I am currently developing a kind of a framework for jquery applications that has a mediator. I might stick together a small version including the mediator if You're interested.
Why not just calling it after all the others ?
$(function(){
func1();
...
funcN();
functionThatNeedsToBeCalledAfter();
});
Of course you will have to cleanup your code to have only 1 place where the document ready function is used... but then your code would be more readable so it's worth it.
little hacky but might work, create a variable inside jquery scope like that
$.imDone = false
then create a function with setTimeout called after short time to lookup for the variable ser to true
var theLastFunctionToCall = function(){
alert('I m the last being called!')
}
var trigger = function(){
$.imDone?theLastFunctionToCall():window.setTimeout(trigger,10);
}
trigger();
I only recommend this when u have different $(document).ready in different big js files, but if you can refactor i sincerelly recommend an optimal solution.

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