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- # ASAP
-
- [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/kriskowal/asap.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/kriskowal/asap)
-
- Promise and asynchronous observer libraries, as well as hand-rolled callback
- programs and libraries, often need a mechanism to postpone the execution of a
- callback until the next available event.
- (See [Designing API’s for Asynchrony][Zalgo].)
- The `asap` function executes a task **as soon as possible** but not before it
- returns, waiting only for the completion of the current event and previously
- scheduled tasks.
-
- ```javascript
- asap(function () {
- // ...
- });
- ```
-
- [Zalgo]: http://blog.izs.me/post/59142742143/designing-apis-for-asynchrony
-
- This CommonJS package provides an `asap` module that exports a function that
- executes a task function *as soon as possible*.
-
- ASAP strives to schedule events to occur before yielding for IO, reflow,
- or redrawing.
- Each event receives an independent stack, with only platform code in parent
- frames and the events run in the order they are scheduled.
-
- ASAP provides a fast event queue that will execute tasks until it is
- empty before yielding to the JavaScript engine's underlying event-loop.
- When a task gets added to a previously empty event queue, ASAP schedules a flush
- event, preferring for that event to occur before the JavaScript engine has an
- opportunity to perform IO tasks or rendering, thus making the first task and
- subsequent tasks semantically indistinguishable.
- ASAP uses a variety of techniques to preserve this invariant on different
- versions of browsers and Node.js.
-
- By design, ASAP prevents input events from being handled until the task
- queue is empty.
- If the process is busy enough, this may cause incoming connection requests to be
- dropped, and may cause existing connections to inform the sender to reduce the
- transmission rate or stall.
- ASAP allows this on the theory that, if there is enough work to do, there is no
- sense in looking for trouble.
- As a consequence, ASAP can interfere with smooth animation.
- If your task should be tied to the rendering loop, consider using
- `requestAnimationFrame` instead.
- A long sequence of tasks can also effect the long running script dialog.
- If this is a problem, you may be able to use ASAP’s cousin `setImmediate` to
- break long processes into shorter intervals and periodically allow the browser
- to breathe.
- `setImmediate` will yield for IO, reflow, and repaint events.
- It also returns a handler and can be canceled.
- For a `setImmediate` shim, consider [YuzuJS setImmediate][setImmediate].
-
- [setImmediate]: https://github.com/YuzuJS/setImmediate
-
- Take care.
- ASAP can sustain infinite recursive calls without warning.
- It will not halt from a stack overflow, and it will not consume unbounded
- memory.
- This is behaviorally equivalent to an infinite loop.
- Just as with infinite loops, you can monitor a Node.js process for this behavior
- with a heart-beat signal.
- As with infinite loops, a very small amount of caution goes a long way to
- avoiding problems.
-
- ```javascript
- function loop() {
- asap(loop);
- }
- loop();
- ```
-
- In browsers, if a task throws an exception, it will not interrupt the flushing
- of high-priority tasks.
- The exception will be postponed to a later, low-priority event to avoid
- slow-downs.
- In Node.js, if a task throws an exception, ASAP will resume flushing only if—and
- only after—the error is handled by `domain.on("error")` or
- `process.on("uncaughtException")`.
-
- ## Raw ASAP
-
- Checking for exceptions comes at a cost.
- The package also provides an `asap/raw` module that exports the underlying
- implementation which is faster but stalls if a task throws an exception.
- This internal version of the ASAP function does not check for errors.
- If a task does throw an error, it will stall the event queue unless you manually
- call `rawAsap.requestFlush()` before throwing the error, or any time after.
-
- In Node.js, `asap/raw` also runs all tasks outside any domain.
- If you need a task to be bound to your domain, you will have to do it manually.
-
- ```js
- if (process.domain) {
- task = process.domain.bind(task);
- }
- rawAsap(task);
- ```
-
- ## Tasks
-
- A task may be any object that implements `call()`.
- A function will suffice, but closures tend not to be reusable and can cause
- garbage collector churn.
- Both `asap` and `rawAsap` accept task objects to give you the option of
- recycling task objects or using higher callable object abstractions.
- See the `asap` source for an illustration.
-
-
- ## Compatibility
-
- ASAP is tested on Node.js v0.10 and in a broad spectrum of web browsers.
- The following charts capture the browser test results for the most recent
- release.
- The first chart shows test results for ASAP running in the main window context.
- The second chart shows test results for ASAP running in a web worker context.
- Test results are inconclusive (grey) on browsers that do not support web
- workers.
- These data are captured automatically by [Continuous
- Integration][].
-
- [Continuous Integration]: https://github.com/kriskowal/asap/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
-
- ![Browser Compatibility](http://kriskowal-asap.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/train/integration-2/saucelabs-results-matrix.svg)
-
- ![Compatibility in Web Workers](http://kriskowal-asap.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/train/integration-2/saucelabs-worker-results-matrix.svg)
-
- ## Caveats
-
- When a task is added to an empty event queue, it is not always possible to
- guarantee that the task queue will begin flushing immediately after the current
- event.
- However, once the task queue begins flushing, it will not yield until the queue
- is empty, even if the queue grows while executing tasks.
-
- The following browsers allow the use of [DOM mutation observers][] to access
- the HTML [microtask queue][], and thus begin flushing ASAP's task queue
- immediately at the end of the current event loop turn, before any rendering or
- IO:
-
- [microtask queue]: http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/webappapis.html#microtask-queue
- [DOM mutation observers]: http://dom.spec.whatwg.org/#mutation-observers
-
- - Android 4–4.3
- - Chrome 26–34
- - Firefox 14–29
- - Internet Explorer 11
- - iPad Safari 6–7.1
- - iPhone Safari 7–7.1
- - Safari 6–7
-
- In the absense of mutation observers, there are a few browsers, and situations
- like web workers in some of the above browsers, where [message channels][]
- would be a useful way to avoid falling back to timers.
- Message channels give direct access to the HTML [task queue][], so the ASAP
- task queue would flush after any already queued rendering and IO tasks, but
- without having the minimum delay imposed by timers.
- However, among these browsers, Internet Explorer 10 and Safari do not reliably
- dispatch messages, so they are not worth the trouble to implement.
-
- [message channels]: http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/web-messaging.html#message-channels
- [task queue]: http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/webappapis.html#concept-task
-
- - Internet Explorer 10
- - Safair 5.0-1
- - Opera 11-12
-
- In the absense of mutation observers, these browsers and the following browsers
- all fall back to using `setTimeout` and `setInterval` to ensure that a `flush`
- occurs.
- The implementation uses both and cancels whatever handler loses the race, since
- `setTimeout` tends to occasionally skip tasks in unisolated circumstances.
- Timers generally delay the flushing of ASAP's task queue for four milliseconds.
-
- - Firefox 3–13
- - Internet Explorer 6–10
- - iPad Safari 4.3
- - Lynx 2.8.7
-
-
- ## Heritage
-
- ASAP has been factored out of the [Q][] asynchronous promise library.
- It originally had a naïve implementation in terms of `setTimeout`, but
- [Malte Ubl][NonBlocking] provided an insight that `postMessage` might be
- useful for creating a high-priority, no-delay event dispatch hack.
- Since then, Internet Explorer proposed and implemented `setImmediate`.
- Robert Katić began contributing to Q by measuring the performance of
- the internal implementation of `asap`, paying particular attention to
- error recovery.
- Domenic, Robert, and Kris Kowal collectively settled on the current strategy of
- unrolling the high-priority event queue internally regardless of what strategy
- we used to dispatch the potentially lower-priority flush event.
- Domenic went on to make ASAP cooperate with Node.js domains.
-
- [Q]: https://github.com/kriskowal/q
- [NonBlocking]: http://www.nonblocking.io/2011/06/windownexttick.html
-
- For further reading, Nicholas Zakas provided a thorough article on [The
- Case for setImmediate][NCZ].
-
- [NCZ]: http://www.nczonline.net/blog/2013/07/09/the-case-for-setimmediate/
-
- Ember’s RSVP promise implementation later [adopted][RSVP ASAP] the name ASAP but
- further developed the implentation.
- Particularly, The `MessagePort` implementation was abandoned due to interaction
- [problems with Mobile Internet Explorer][IE Problems] in favor of an
- implementation backed on the newer and more reliable DOM `MutationObserver`
- interface.
- These changes were back-ported into this library.
-
- [IE Problems]: https://github.com/cujojs/when/issues/197
- [RSVP ASAP]: https://github.com/tildeio/rsvp.js/blob/cddf7232546a9cf858524b75cde6f9edf72620a7/lib/rsvp/asap.js
-
- In addition, ASAP factored into `asap` and `asap/raw`, such that `asap` remained
- exception-safe, but `asap/raw` provided a tight kernel that could be used for
- tasks that guaranteed that they would not throw exceptions.
- This core is useful for promise implementations that capture thrown errors in
- rejected promises and do not need a second safety net.
- At the same time, the exception handling in `asap` was factored into separate
- implementations for Node.js and browsers, using the the [Browserify][Browser
- Config] `browser` property in `package.json` to instruct browser module loaders
- and bundlers, including [Browserify][], [Mr][], and [Mop][], to use the
- browser-only implementation.
-
- [Browser Config]: https://gist.github.com/defunctzombie/4339901
- [Browserify]: https://github.com/substack/node-browserify
- [Mr]: https://github.com/montagejs/mr
- [Mop]: https://github.com/montagejs/mop
-
- ## License
-
- Copyright 2009-2014 by Contributors
- MIT License (enclosed)
-
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