bsync

Async++ =)

A better/different control flow library for node.js. Designed for task-independent parallelism where specified functions are all guaranteed to execute even if some fail.

parallel

Executes specified functions in parallel

Useful for I/O tasks where executions are independent but coordination is required after execution.

parallel(..) makes the following guarantees:

• All functions execute even if some report errors
• Callback is made after all functions complete execution (e.g. after completion of the longest running)
• Errors and results are reported for each function using the original index locations or object keys
• If all functions execute without errors then allErrors will be undefined (rather than an empty array or object) -- provides a useful quick test for total success

Runs in a single node.js process, so not parallelized across cores. CPU intesive tasks will not benefit from parallelization for this reason. I/O latent tasks will experience the largest gains since all waiting will happen simultaneously.

Example

#Add the module to your project
bsync = require "bsync"

#Example data
theData = [1,2,3,4,5]

#The function we want to run in parallel
theFunction = (theValue, callback) -> 
  if theValue < 3
    callback undefined, theValue + 10
    return
  callback new Error "The value was too large!"

#Create an array (or object) of functions for bsync.parallel
workers = []
for aValue in theData
  workers.push bsync.apply theFunction, aValue #Note: comma after function pointer and omit callback

#Execute in parallel
bsync.parallel workers, (allErrors, allResults) ->
  if allErrors?
    console.log "Some errors occurred!", allErrors
  console.log "The results:", allResults

seriesEach

Executes specified functions in series

Useful for maintenance tasks where executions are sequenced for reasons other than logical control flow (such as bandwidth limitations) -- e.g. when each execution is independent.

seriesEach(..) makes the following guarantees:

• Each specified function executes in the order specified
• all functions execute even if prior calls report errors

###
  Execute functions in series calling cbEach() after each function executes
  ---
  Input (parameters)
    execFuncs -- Array of applied functions (use bsync.apply)
    cbEach -- Callback after each execution of a specified function
    cbDone -- Final callback when execution of all functions is complete
  Output (calls)
    cbEach(error, data, stats, sequence, next)
      error, data -- as reported by execFunc'tion
      stats -- {completed: x, inTotal: x, withData: x, withErrors: x}
      sequence -- the sequence number (index) of the function that just completed execution; useful for referencing the input parameter data
      next -- Callback when ready to start the next execution in the series sequence (usage: next() )
    cbDone(error, stats) -- a single error object if any errors occurred, but that doesn't indicate complete failure. Check stats.
      stats -- {completed: x, inTotal: x, withData: x, withErrors: x}
###
exports.seriesEach = (execFuncs, cbEach, cbDone) ->

Example

#--Load Module
bsync = require "bsync"
#--Example Data to Work On
param1 = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
#--Define eachFunction; The eachFunction is called after each workFunction completes or crashes
eachFunction = (err, data, stats, sequence, next) ->
  console.log "[eachFunction]", err, data, stats, sequence
  console.log "The input to this function for param1 was", param1[sequence] #In case you need to reference it for retry-style operations; Make sure to keep the input data in context
  next()
#--Apply Work Functions
for i in [0...10] #i = 0 to 9 using coffeescript notation
  workers.push bsync.apply theWorkFunction, param1[i], param2   #note: omit callback parameter
#--Execute Work Functions
bsync.seriesEach workers, eachFunction, (error, stats) ->
  console.log stats

apply

Example