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Introduction

This is an idiomatic, minimally-opinionated Channel type for JavaScript that's inspired by Go's channels. It works in browsers and in Node.js. If you know how to use an Array then you already know most of how to use a Channel.

Why

Go's use of channels for concurrency is amazing and with JavaScript's async/await feature we have the basis for it as well. All that's missing is a solid Channel type. There are existing libraries but I wanted an idiomatic Channel type that's simple and minimally-opinionated.

This document assumes you're familiar with Go's channels and why you'd want to use them. For explanatory background, see my blog article on the subject.

Installation

$ npm install @nodeguy/channel

Basic Use

Create a channel with Channel().

To send a value to a channel use push. To receive a value from a channel use shift. Always precede the method calls with await. Close the channel when there are no more values to push.

const assert = require(`assert`);
const Channel = require(`@nodeguy/channel`);

const channel = Channel();

const send = async () => {
  await channel.push(42);
  await channel.close();
};

const receive = async () => {
  assert.equal(await channel.shift(), 42);
  assert.equal(await channel.shift(), undefined);
};

await Promise.all([send(), receive()]);

The push and shift methods are usually called in different async functions. They represent the two different ends of the channel and act to synchronize the behavior of the async functions.

API

The API is in the API.md file.

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Copyright

Copyright 2017 David Braun

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use these files except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.