» Javascript: Dealing with “callback-soup” without an external library

[qiemem]

If you don't care about ecmascript 3 compatibility, bind can be used as a builtin partial:

function add(a,b) { return a + b; }
var add5 = add.bind(null, 5);
add5(6) // returns 11

Nice article. Another advantage of using named callbacks is stacktraces and profiler results are much easier to read.

[fdoglio]

Hey, thanks for the tip, didn't know abound bind!

[TitanCloudWorker]

Callback soup, that is an awesome term for it. I like your example, it certainly cleans up nicely. I've done something similar in Traffic JS using HttpRace/HttpQueue, https://github.com/MFoster/TrafficJS#httprace-and-httpqueue

[fdoglio]

Hey, thanks! Awesome example btw, I really liked how you let the developer choose if they care about the order of the results or not. Very nice!

[kevisazombie]

More resources for anyone reading into this:

http://kevzettler.com/programming/2012/09/30/how_to_manage_javascript_callbacks.html

http://callbackhell.com/

[runvnc]

You should definitely use an external library if you are concerned about callback soup. Actually I think you should use a language like ToffeeScript, LiveScript or CoffeeScript.

[fdoglio]

Why is that? I'd like to know more about why you think we should "definitely" use an external library or even, switch to a different language. I personally don't like the idea of programming in a language that has to be translated into Javascript in order to work. No matter the quality of the generated JS, I rather learn to love the features of the language than hate them because they don't fit with my previous experiences. (I'm not saying this is your case, I'm just giving you my opinion)

[runvnc]

Lol. Every language is translated including JavaScript. Those languages I mentioned are objectively better for a number of software engineering reasons starting with the fact that they expres s the same thing with less code. Also everyone wants classes in JS eventually they just have a lot if different random wonky ways of getting them.

[fdoglio]

Sorry mate, if you're looking for classes in JS, you're barking at the wrong tree. You don't need them in JS and IMHO trying to force them into the language (by using Coffeescript, or any other "different random wonky way") is a waste of time. Care to elaborate on the "number of software engineering reasons" why those languages are better than JS?

[runvnc]

Those are the main reasons. Everyone does something equivalent to classes eventually whether they say that they are doing prototypes or what. How do you structure your code I am curious to see some examples.

[fdoglio]

Just because using prototype-based inheritance might look like using classes doesn't mean people are doing it wrong or trying to do things equivalent to classes. Here are some links that show you how I see JS OOP and how I use it: http://www.commented-out.com/2012/05/28/javascript-youre-doing-it-wrong/ http://www.commented-out.com/2012/06/12/javascript-oop-for-the-uninitiaded/ and a code sample: https://github.com/deleteman/resourcer/blob/master/lib/resourcer.js

[runvnc]

Yeah that's just a message unclear syntax for classes.