# You may distribute under the terms of either the GNU General Public License # or the Artistic License (the same terms as Perl itself) # # (C) Paul Evans, 2011-2015 -- leonerd@leonerd.org.uk package Future; use strict; use warnings; no warnings 'recursion'; # Disable the "deep recursion" warning our $VERSION = '0.32'; use Carp qw(); # don't import croak use Scalar::Util qw( weaken blessed reftype ); use B qw( svref_2object ); use Time::HiRes qw( gettimeofday tv_interval ); # we are not overloaded, but we want to check if other objects are require overload; our @CARP_NOT = qw( Future::Utils ); use constant DEBUG => $ENV{PERL_FUTURE_DEBUG}; our $TIMES = DEBUG || $ENV{PERL_FUTURE_TIMES}; =head1 NAME C - represent an operation awaiting completion =head1 SYNOPSIS my $future = Future->new; perform_some_operation( on_complete => sub { $future->done( @_ ); } ); $future->on_ready( sub { say "The operation is complete"; } ); =head1 DESCRIPTION A C object represents an operation that is currently in progress, or has recently completed. It can be used in a variety of ways to manage the flow of control, and data, through an asynchronous program. Some futures represent a single operation and are explicitly marked as ready by calling the C or C methods. These are called "leaf" futures here, and are returned by the C constructor. Other futures represent a collection of sub-tasks, and are implicitly marked as ready depending on the readiness of their component futures as required. These are called "convergent" futures here as they converge control and data-flow back into one place. These are the ones returned by the various C and C constructors. It is intended that library functions that perform asynchronous operations would use future objects to represent outstanding operations, and allow their calling programs to control or wait for these operations to complete. The implementation and the user of such an interface would typically make use of different methods on the class. The methods below are documented in two sections; those of interest to each side of the interface. It should be noted however, that this module does not in any way provide an actual mechanism for performing this asynchronous activity; it merely provides a way to create objects that can be used for control and data flow around those operations. It allows such code to be written in a neater, forward-reading manner, and simplifies many common patterns that are often involved in such situations. See also L which contains useful loop-constructing functions, to run a future-returning function repeatedly in a loop. =head2 SUBCLASSING This class easily supports being subclassed to provide extra behavior, such as giving the C method the ability to block and wait for completion. This may be useful to provide C subclasses with event systems, or similar. Each method that returns a new future object will use the invocant to construct its return value. If the constructor needs to perform per-instance setup it can override the C method, and take context from the given instance. sub new { my $proto = shift; my $self = $proto->SUPER::new; if( ref $proto ) { # Prototype was an instance } else { # Prototype was a class } return $self; } If an instance provides a method called C, this will be called by the C and C methods if the instance is pending. $f->await In most cases this should allow future-returning modules to be used as if they were blocking call/return-style modules, by simply appending a C call to the function or method calls. my ( $results, $here ) = future_returning_function( @args )->get; The F directory in the distribution contains some examples of how futures might be integrated with various event systems. =head2 MODULE DOCUMENTATION Modules that provide future-returning functions or methods may wish to adopt the following styles in some way, to document the eventual return values from these futures. func( ARGS, HERE... ) ==> ( RETURN, VALUES... ) OBJ->method( ARGS, HERE... ) ==> ( RETURN, VALUES... ) Code returning a future that yields no values on success can use empty parentheses. func( ... ) ==> () =head2 DEBUGGING By the time a C object is destroyed, it ought to have been completed or cancelled. By enabling debug tracing of objects, this fact can be checked. If a future object is destroyed without having been completed or cancelled, a warning message is printed. $ PERL_FUTURE_DEBUG=1 perl -MFuture -E 'my $f = Future->new' Future=HASH(0xaa61f8) was constructed at -e line 1 and was lost near -e line 0 before it was ready. Note that due to a limitation of perl's C function within a C destructor method, the exact location of the leak cannot be accurately determined. Often the leak will occur due to falling out of scope by returning from a function; in this case the leak location may be reported as being the line following the line calling that function. $ PERL_FUTURE_DEBUG=1 perl -MFuture sub foo { my $f = Future->new; } foo(); print "Finished\n"; Future=HASH(0x14a2220) was constructed at - line 2 and was lost near - line 6 before it was ready. Finished A warning is also printed in debug mode if a C object is destroyed that completed with a failure, but the object believes that failure has not been reported anywhere. $ PERL_FUTURE_DEBUG=1 perl -Mblib -MFuture -E 'my $f = Future->fail("Oops")' Future=HASH(0xac98f8) was constructed at -e line 1 and was lost near -e line 0 with an unreported failure of: Oops Such a failure is considered reported if the C or C methods are called on it, or it had at least one C or C callback, or its failure is propagated to another C instance (by a sequencing or converging method). =cut =head1 CONSTRUCTORS =cut =head2 $future = Future->new =head2 $future = $orig->new Returns a new C instance to represent a leaf future. It will be marked as ready by any of the C, C, or C methods. It can be called either as a class method, or as an instance method. Called on an instance it will construct another in the same class, and is useful for subclassing. This constructor would primarily be used by implementations of asynchronous interfaces. =cut # Callback flags use constant { CB_DONE => 1<<0, # Execute callback on done CB_FAIL => 1<<1, # Execute callback on fail CB_CANCEL => 1<<2, # Execute callback on cancellation CB_SELF => 1<<3, # Pass $self as first argument CB_RESULT => 1<<4, # Pass result/failure as a list CB_SEQ_ONDONE => 1<<5, # Sequencing on success (->then) CB_SEQ_ONFAIL => 1<<6, # Sequencing on failure (->else) CB_SEQ_IMDONE => 1<<7, # $code is in fact immediate ->done result CB_SEQ_IMFAIL => 1<<8, # $code is in fact immediate ->fail result }; use constant CB_ALWAYS => CB_DONE|CB_FAIL|CB_CANCEL; # Useful for identifying CODE references sub CvNAME_FILE_LINE { my ( $code ) = @_; my $cv = svref_2object( $code ); my $name = join "::", $cv->STASH->NAME, $cv->GV->NAME; return $name unless $cv->GV->NAME eq "__ANON__"; # $cv->GV->LINE isn't reliable, as outside of perl -d mode all anon CODE # in the same file actually shares the same GV. :( # Walk the optree looking for the first COP my $cop = $cv->START; $cop = $cop->next while $cop and ref $cop ne "B::COP"; sprintf "%s(%s line %d)", $cv->GV->NAME, $cop->file, $cop->line; } sub _callable { my ( $cb ) = @_; defined $cb and ( reftype($cb) eq 'CODE' || overload::Method($cb, '&{}') ); } sub new { my $proto = shift; return bless { ready => 0, callbacks => [], # [] = [$type, ...] ( DEBUG ? ( do { my $at = Carp::shortmess( "constructed" ); chomp $at; $at =~ s/\.$//; constructed_at => $at } ) : () ), ( $TIMES ? ( btime => [ gettimeofday ] ) : () ), }, ( ref $proto || $proto ); } my $GLOBAL_END; END { $GLOBAL_END = 1; } sub DESTROY_debug { my $self = shift; return if $GLOBAL_END; return if $self->{ready} and ( $self->{reported} or !$self->{failure} ); my $lost_at = join " line ", (caller)[1,2]; # We can't actually know the real line where the last reference was lost; # a variable set to 'undef' or close of scope, because caller can't see it; # the current op has already been updated. The best we can do is indicate # 'near'. if( $self->{ready} and $self->{failure} ) { warn "${\$self->__selfstr} was $self->{constructed_at} and was lost near $lost_at with an unreported failure of: " . $self->{failure}[0] . "\n"; } elsif( !$self->{ready} ) { warn "${\$self->__selfstr} was $self->{constructed_at} and was lost near $lost_at before it was ready.\n"; } } *DESTROY = \&DESTROY_debug if DEBUG; =head2 $future = Future->done( @values ) =head2 $future = Future->fail( $exception, @details ) Shortcut wrappers around creating a new C then immediately marking it as done or failed. =head2 $future = Future->wrap( @values ) If given a single argument which is already a C reference, this will be returned unmodified. Otherwise, returns a new C instance that is already complete, and will yield the given values. This will ensure that an incoming argument is definitely a C, and may be useful in such cases as adapting synchronous code to fit asynchronous libraries driven by C. =cut sub wrap { my $class = shift; my @values = @_; if( @values == 1 and blessed $values[0] and $values[0]->isa( __PACKAGE__ ) ) { return $values[0]; } else { return $class->done( @values ); } } =head2 $future = Future->call( \&code, @args ) A convenient wrapper for calling a C reference that is expected to return a future. In normal circumstances is equivalent to $future = $code->( @args ) except that if the code throws an exception, it is wrapped in a new immediate fail future. If the return value from the code is not a blessed C reference, an immediate fail future is returned instead to complain about this fact. =cut sub call { my $class = shift; my ( $code, @args ) = @_; my $f; eval { $f = $code->( @args ); 1 } or $f = $class->fail( $@ ); blessed $f and $f->isa( "Future" ) or $f = $class->fail( "Expected " . CvNAME_FILE_LINE($code) . " to return a Future" ); return $f; } sub _shortmess { my $at = Carp::shortmess( $_[0] ); chomp $at; $at =~ s/\.$//; return $at; } sub _mark_ready { my $self = shift; $self->{ready} = 1; $self->{ready_at} = _shortmess $_[0] if DEBUG; if( $TIMES ) { $self->{rtime} = [ gettimeofday ]; } delete $self->{on_cancel}; my $callbacks = delete $self->{callbacks} or return; my $cancelled = $self->{cancelled}; my $fail = defined $self->{failure}; my $done = !$fail && !$cancelled; my @result = $done ? $self->get : $fail ? $self->failure : (); foreach my $cb ( @$callbacks ) { my ( $flags, $code ) = @$cb; my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); next if $done and not( $flags & CB_DONE ); next if $fail and not( $flags & CB_FAIL ); next if $cancelled and not( $flags & CB_CANCEL ); $self->{reported} = 1 if $fail; if( $is_future ) { $done ? $code->done( @result ) : $fail ? $code->fail( @result ) : $code->cancel; } elsif( $flags & (CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_ONFAIL) ) { my ( undef, undef, $fseq ) = @$cb; if( !$fseq ) { # weaken()ed; it might be gone now # This warning should always be printed, even not in DEBUG mode. # It's always an indication of a bug Carp::carp +(DEBUG ? "${\$self->__selfstr} ($self->{constructed_at})" : "${\$self->__selfstr} $self" ) . " lost a sequence Future"; next; } my $f2; if( $done and $flags & CB_SEQ_ONDONE or $fail and $flags & CB_SEQ_ONFAIL ) { if( $flags & CB_SEQ_IMDONE ) { $fseq->done( @$code ); next; } elsif( $flags & CB_SEQ_IMFAIL ) { $fseq->fail( @$code ); next; } my @args = ( ( $flags & CB_SELF ? $self : () ), ( $flags & CB_RESULT ? @result : () ), ); unless( eval { $f2 = $code->( @args ); 1 } ) { $fseq->fail( $@ ); next; } unless( blessed $f2 and $f2->isa( "Future" ) ) { $fseq->fail( "Expected " . CvNAME_FILE_LINE($code) . " to return a Future" ); next; } $fseq->on_cancel( $f2 ); } else { $f2 = $self; } if( $f2->is_ready ) { $f2->on_ready( $fseq ) if !$f2->{cancelled}; } else { push @{ $f2->{callbacks} }, [ CB_DONE|CB_FAIL, $fseq ]; weaken( $f2->{callbacks}[-1][1] ); } } else { $code->( ( $flags & CB_SELF ? $self : () ), ( $flags & CB_RESULT ? @result : () ), ); } } } sub _state { my $self = shift; return !$self->{ready} ? "pending" : DEBUG ? $self->{ready_at} : $self->{failure} ? "failed" : $self->{cancelled} ? "cancelled" : "done"; } =head1 IMPLEMENTATION METHODS These methods would primarily be used by implementations of asynchronous interfaces. =cut =head2 $future->done( @result ) Marks that the leaf future is now ready, and provides a list of values as a result. (The empty list is allowed, and still indicates the future as ready). Cannot be called on a convergent future. If the future is already cancelled, this request is ignored. If the future is already complete with a result or a failure, an exception is thrown. =head2 Future->done( @result ) May also be called as a class method, where it will construct a new Future and immediately mark it as done. Returns the C<$future> to allow easy chaining to create an immediate future by return Future->done( ... ) =cut sub done { my $self = shift; if( ref $self ) { $self->{cancelled} and return $self; $self->{ready} and Carp::croak "${\$self->__selfstr} is already ".$self->_state." and cannot be ->done"; $self->{subs} and Carp::croak "${\$self->__selfstr} is not a leaf Future, cannot be ->done"; $self->{result} = [ @_ ]; $self->_mark_ready( "done" ); } else { $self = $self->new; $self->{ready} = 1; $self->{ready_at} = _shortmess "done" if DEBUG; $self->{result} = [ @_ ]; } return $self; } =head2 $code = $future->done_cb Returns a C reference that, when invoked, calls the C method. This makes it simple to pass as a callback function to other code. As the same effect can be achieved using L, this method is deprecated now and may be removed in a later version. $code = $future->curry::done; =cut sub done_cb { my $self = shift; return sub { $self->done( @_ ) }; } =head2 $future->fail( $exception, @details ) Marks that the leaf future has failed, and provides an exception value. This exception will be thrown by the C method if called. The exception must evaluate as a true value; false exceptions are not allowed. Further details may be provided that will be returned by the C method in list context. These details will not be part of the exception string raised by C. If the future is already cancelled, this request is ignored. If the future is already complete with a result or a failure, an exception is thrown. =head2 Future->fail( $exception, @details ) May also be called as a class method, where it will construct a new Future and immediately mark it as failed. Returns the C<$future> to allow easy chaining to create an immediate failed future by return Future->fail( ... ) =cut sub fail { my $self = shift; my ( $exception, @details ) = @_; $_[0] or Carp::croak "$self ->fail requires an exception that is true"; if( ref $self ) { $self->{cancelled} and return $self; $self->{ready} and Carp::croak "${\$self->__selfstr} is already ".$self->_state." and cannot be ->fail'ed"; $self->{subs} and Carp::croak "${\$self->__selfstr} is not a leaf Future, cannot be ->fail'ed"; $self->{failure} = [ $exception, @details ]; $self->_mark_ready( "fail" ); } else { $self = $self->new; $self->{ready} = 1; $self->{ready_at} = _shortmess "fail" if DEBUG; $self->{failure} = [ $exception, @details ]; } if( DEBUG ) { my $at = Carp::shortmess( "failed" ); chomp $at; $at =~ s/\.$//; $self->{ready_at} = $at; } return $self; } =head2 $code = $future->fail_cb Returns a C reference that, when invoked, calls the C method. This makes it simple to pass as a callback function to other code. As the same effect can be achieved using L, this method is deprecated now and may be removed in a later version. $code = $future->curry::fail; =cut sub fail_cb { my $self = shift; return sub { $self->fail( @_ ) }; } =head2 $future->die( $message, @details ) A convenient wrapper around C. If the exception is a non-reference that does not end in a linefeed, its value will be extended by the file and line number of the caller, similar to the logic that C uses. Returns the C<$future>. =cut sub die :method { my $self = shift; my ( $exception, @details ) = @_; if( !ref $exception and $exception !~ m/\n$/ ) { $exception .= sprintf " at %s line %d\n", (caller)[1,2]; } $self->fail( $exception, @details ); } =head2 $future->on_cancel( $code ) If the future is not yet ready, adds a callback to be invoked if the future is cancelled by the C method. If the future is already ready, throws an exception. If the future is cancelled, the callbacks will be invoked in the reverse order to that in which they were registered. $on_cancel->( $future ) =head2 $future->on_cancel( $f ) If passed another C instance, the passed instance will be cancelled when the original future is cancelled. This method does nothing if the future is already complete. =cut sub on_cancel { my $self = shift; my ( $code ) = @_; my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); $is_future or _callable( $code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$code to be callable or a Future in ->on_cancel"; $self->{ready} and return $self; push @{ $self->{on_cancel} }, $code; return $self; } =head2 $cancelled = $future->is_cancelled Returns true if the future has been cancelled by C. =cut sub is_cancelled { my $self = shift; return $self->{cancelled}; } =head1 USER METHODS These methods would primarily be used by users of asynchronous interfaces, on objects returned by such an interface. =cut =head2 $ready = $future->is_ready Returns true on a leaf future if a result has been provided to the C method, failed using the C method, or cancelled using the C method. Returns true on a convergent future if it is ready to yield a result, depending on its component futures. =cut sub is_ready { my $self = shift; return $self->{ready}; } =head2 $future->on_ready( $code ) If the future is not yet ready, adds a callback to be invoked when the future is ready. If the future is already ready, invokes it immediately. In either case, the callback will be passed the future object itself. The invoked code can then obtain the list of results by calling the C method. $on_ready->( $future ) Returns the C<$future>. =head2 $future->on_ready( $f ) If passed another C instance, the passed instance will have its C, C or C methods invoked when the original future completes successfully, fails, or is cancelled respectively. =cut sub on_ready { my $self = shift; my ( $code ) = @_; my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); $is_future or _callable( $code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$code to be callable or a Future in ->on_ready"; if( $self->{ready} ) { my $fail = defined $self->{failure}; my $done = !$fail && !$self->{cancelled}; $self->{reported} = 1 if $fail; $is_future ? ( $done ? $code->done( $self->get ) : $fail ? $code->fail( $self->failure ) : $code->cancel ) : $code->( $self ); } else { push @{ $self->{callbacks} }, [ CB_ALWAYS|CB_SELF, $self->wrap_cb( on_ready => $code ) ]; } return $self; } =head2 $done = $future->is_done Returns true on a future if it is ready and completed successfully. Returns false if it is still pending, failed, or was cancelled. =cut sub is_done { my $self = shift; return $self->{ready} && !$self->{failure} && !$self->{cancelled}; } =head2 @result = $future->get =head2 $result = $future->get If the future is ready and completed successfully, returns the list of results that had earlier been given to the C method on a leaf future, or the list of component futures it was waiting for on a convergent future. In scalar context it returns just the first result value. If the future is ready but failed, this method raises as an exception the failure string or object that was given to the C method. If the future was cancelled an exception is thrown. If it is not yet ready and is not of a subclass that provides an C method an exception is thrown. If it is subclassed to provide an C method then this is used to wait for the future to be ready, before returning the result or propagating its failure exception. =cut sub await { my $self = shift; Carp::croak "$self is not yet complete and does not provide ->await"; } sub get { my $self = shift; $self->await until $self->{ready}; if( $self->{failure} ) { $self->{reported} = 1; my $exception = $self->{failure}->[0]; !ref $exception && $exception =~ m/\n$/ ? CORE::die $exception : Carp::croak $exception; } $self->{cancelled} and Carp::croak "${\$self->__selfstr} was cancelled"; return $self->{result}->[0] unless wantarray; return @{ $self->{result} }; } =head2 @values = Future->unwrap( @values ) If given a single argument which is a C reference, this method will call C on it and return the result. Otherwise, it returns the list of values directly in list context, or the first value in scalar. Since it involves an implicit C, this method can only be used on immediate futures or subclasses that implement C. This will ensure that an outgoing argument is definitely not a C, and may be useful in such cases as adapting synchronous code to fit asynchronous libraries that return C instances. =cut sub unwrap { shift; # $class my @values = @_; if( @values == 1 and blessed $values[0] and $values[0]->isa( __PACKAGE__ ) ) { return $values[0]->get; } else { return $values[0] if !wantarray; return @values; } } =head2 $future->on_done( $code ) If the future is not yet ready, adds a callback to be invoked when the future is ready, if it completes successfully. If the future completed successfully, invokes it immediately. If it failed or was cancelled, it is not invoked at all. The callback will be passed the result passed to the C method. $on_done->( @result ) Returns the C<$future>. =head2 $future->on_done( $f ) If passed another C instance, the passed instance will have its C method invoked when the original future completes successfully. =cut sub on_done { my $self = shift; my ( $code ) = @_; my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); $is_future or _callable( $code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$code to be callable or a Future in ->on_done"; if( $self->{ready} ) { return $self if $self->{failure} or $self->{cancelled}; $is_future ? $code->done( $self->get ) : $code->( $self->get ); } else { push @{ $self->{callbacks} }, [ CB_DONE|CB_RESULT, $self->wrap_cb( on_done => $code ) ]; } return $self; } =head2 $failed = $future->is_failed Returns true on a future if it is ready and it failed. Returns false if it is still pending, completed successfully, or was cancelled. =cut sub is_failed { my $self = shift; return $self->{ready} && !!$self->{failure}; # boolify } =head2 $exception = $future->failure =head2 $exception, @details = $future->failure Returns the exception passed to the C method, C if the future completed successfully via the C method, or raises an exception if called on a future that is not yet ready. If called in list context, will additionally yield a list of the details provided to the C method. Because the exception value must be true, this can be used in a simple C statement: if( my $exception = $future->failure ) { ... } else { my @result = $future->get; ... } =cut sub failure { my $self = shift; $self->await until $self->{ready}; return unless $self->{failure}; $self->{reported} = 1; return $self->{failure}->[0] if !wantarray; return @{ $self->{failure} }; } =head2 $future->on_fail( $code ) If the future is not yet ready, adds a callback to be invoked when the future is ready, if it fails. If the future has already failed, invokes it immediately. If it completed successfully or was cancelled, it is not invoked at all. The callback will be passed the exception and details passed to the C method. $on_fail->( $exception, @details ) Returns the C<$future>. =head2 $future->on_fail( $f ) If passed another C instance, the passed instance will have its C method invoked when the original future fails. To invoke a C method on a future when another one fails, use a CODE reference: $future->on_fail( sub { $f->done( @_ ) } ); =cut sub on_fail { my $self = shift; my ( $code ) = @_; my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); $is_future or _callable( $code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$code to be callable or a Future in ->on_fail"; if( $self->{ready} ) { return $self if not $self->{failure}; $self->{reported} = 1; $is_future ? $code->fail( $self->failure ) : $code->( $self->failure ); } else { push @{ $self->{callbacks} }, [ CB_FAIL|CB_RESULT, $self->wrap_cb( on_fail => $code ) ]; } return $self; } =head2 $future->cancel Requests that the future be cancelled, immediately marking it as ready. This will invoke all of the code blocks registered by C, in the reverse order. When called on a convergent future, all its component futures are also cancelled. It is not an error to attempt to cancel a future that is already complete or cancelled; it simply has no effect. Returns the C<$future>. =cut sub cancel { my $self = shift; return $self if $self->{ready}; $self->{cancelled}++; foreach my $code ( reverse @{ $self->{on_cancel} || [] } ) { my $is_future = blessed( $code ) && $code->isa( "Future" ); $is_future ? $code->cancel : $code->( $self ); } $self->_mark_ready( "cancel" ); return $self; } =head2 $code = $future->cancel_cb Returns a C reference that, when invoked, calls the C method. This makes it simple to pass as a callback function to other code. As the same effect can be achieved using L, this method is deprecated now and may be removed in a later version. $code = $future->curry::cancel; =cut sub cancel_cb { my $self = shift; return sub { $self->cancel }; } =head1 SEQUENCING METHODS The following methods all return a new future to represent the combination of its invocant followed by another action given by a code reference. The combined activity waits for the first future to be ready, then may invoke the code depending on the success or failure of the first, or may run it regardless. The returned sequence future represents the entire combination of activity. In some cases the code should return a future; in some it should return an immediate result. If a future is returned, the combined future will then wait for the result of this second one. If the combinined future is cancelled, it will cancel either the first future or the second, depending whether the first had completed. If the code block throws an exception instead of returning a value, the sequence future will fail with that exception as its message and no further values. As it is always a mistake to call these sequencing methods in void context and lose the reference to the returned future (because exception/error handling would be silently dropped), this method warns in void context. =cut sub _sequence { my $f1 = shift; my ( $code, $flags ) = @_; # For later, we might want to know where we were called from my $func = (caller 1)[3]; $func =~ s/^.*:://; $flags & (CB_SEQ_IMDONE|CB_SEQ_IMFAIL) or _callable( $code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$code to be callable in ->$func"; if( !defined wantarray ) { Carp::carp "Calling ->$func in void context"; } if( $f1->is_ready ) { # Take a shortcut return $f1 if $f1->is_done and not( $flags & CB_SEQ_ONDONE ) or $f1->failure and not( $flags & CB_SEQ_ONFAIL ); if( $flags & CB_SEQ_IMDONE ) { return Future->done( @$code ); } elsif( $flags & CB_SEQ_IMFAIL ) { return Future->fail( @$code ); } my @args = ( ( $flags & CB_SELF ? $f1 : () ), ( $flags & CB_RESULT ? $f1->is_done ? $f1->get : $f1->failure ? $f1->failure : () : () ), ); my $fseq; unless( eval { $fseq = $code->( @args ); 1 } ) { return Future->fail( $@ ); } unless( blessed $fseq and $fseq->isa( "Future" ) ) { return Future->fail( "Expected " . CvNAME_FILE_LINE($code) . " to return a Future" ); } return $fseq; } my $fseq = $f1->new; $fseq->on_cancel( $f1 ); # TODO: if anyone cares about the op name, we might have to synthesize it # from $flags $code = $f1->wrap_cb( sequence => $code ) unless $flags & (CB_SEQ_IMDONE|CB_SEQ_IMFAIL); push @{ $f1->{callbacks} }, [ CB_DONE|CB_FAIL|$flags, $code, $fseq ]; weaken( $f1->{callbacks}[-1][2] ); return $fseq; } =head2 $future = $f1->then( \&done_code ) Returns a new sequencing C that runs the code if the first succeeds. Once C<$f1> succeeds the code reference will be invoked and is passed the list of results. It should return a future, C<$f2>. Once C<$f2> completes the sequence future will then be marked as complete with whatever result C<$f2> gave. If C<$f1> fails then the sequence future will immediately fail with the same failure and the code will not be invoked. $f2 = $done_code->( @result ) =head2 $future = $f1->else( \&fail_code ) Returns a new sequencing C that runs the code if the first fails. Once C<$f1> fails the code reference will be invoked and is passed the failure and details. It should return a future, C<$f2>. Once C<$f2> completes the sequence future will then be marked as complete with whatever result C<$f2> gave. If C<$f1> succeeds then the sequence future will immediately succeed with the same result and the code will not be invoked. $f2 = $fail_code->( $exception, @details ) =head2 $future = $f1->then( \&done_code, \&fail_code ) The C method can also be passed the C<$fail_code> block as well, giving a combination of C and C behaviour. This operation is designed to be compatible with the semantics of other future systems, such as Javascript's Q or Promises/A libraries. =cut sub then { my $self = shift; my ( $done_code, $fail_code ) = @_; if( $done_code and !$fail_code ) { return $self->_sequence( $done_code, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_RESULT ); } !$done_code or _callable( $done_code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$done_code to be callable in ->then"; !$fail_code or _callable( $fail_code ) or Carp::croak "Expected \$fail_code to be callable in ->then"; # Complex return $self->_sequence( sub { my $self = shift; if( !$self->{failure} ) { return $self unless $done_code; return $done_code->( $self->get ); } else { return $self unless $fail_code; return $fail_code->( $self->failure ); } }, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SELF ); } sub else { my $self = shift; my ( $fail_code ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( $fail_code, CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_RESULT ); } =head2 $future = $f1->transform( %args ) Returns a new sequencing C that wraps the one given as C<$f1>. With no arguments this will be a trivial wrapper; C<$future> will complete or fail when C<$f1> does, and C<$f1> will be cancelled when C<$future> is. By passing the following named arguments, the returned C<$future> can be made to behave differently to C<$f1>: =over 8 =item done => CODE Provides a function to use to modify the result of a successful completion. When C<$f1> completes successfully, the result of its C method is passed into this function, and whatever it returns is passed to the C method of C<$future> =item fail => CODE Provides a function to use to modify the result of a failure. When C<$f1> fails, the result of its C method is passed into this function, and whatever it returns is passed to the C method of C<$future>. =back =cut sub transform { my $self = shift; my %args = @_; my $xfrm_done = $args{done}; my $xfrm_fail = $args{fail}; return $self->_sequence( sub { my $self = shift; if( !$self->{failure} ) { return $self unless $xfrm_done; my @result = $xfrm_done->( $self->get ); return $self->new->done( @result ); } else { return $self unless $xfrm_fail; my @failure = $xfrm_fail->( $self->failure ); return $self->new->fail( @failure ); } }, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SELF ); } =head2 $future = $f1->then_with_f( \&code ) Returns a new sequencing C that runs the code if the first succeeds. Identical to C, except that the code reference will be passed both the original future, C<$f1>, and its result. $f2 = $code->( $f1, @result ) This is useful for conditional execution cases where the code block may just return the same result of the original future. In this case it is more efficient to return the original future itself. =cut sub then_with_f { my $self = shift; my ( $done_code ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( $done_code, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SELF|CB_RESULT ); } =head2 $future = $f->then_done( @result ) =head2 $future = $f->then_fail( $exception, @details ) Convenient shortcuts to returning an immediate future from a C block, when the result is already known. =cut sub then_done { my $self = shift; my ( @result ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( \@result, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_IMDONE ); } sub then_fail { my $self = shift; my ( @failure ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( \@failure, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_IMFAIL ); } =head2 $future = $f1->else_with_f( \&code ) Returns a new sequencing C that runs the code if the first fails. Identical to C, except that the code reference will be passed both the original future, C<$f1>, and its exception and details. $f2 = $code->( $f1, $exception, @details ) This is useful for conditional execution cases where the code block may just return the same result of the original future. In this case it is more efficient to return the original future itself. =cut sub else_with_f { my $self = shift; my ( $fail_code ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( $fail_code, CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SELF|CB_RESULT ); } =head2 $future = $f->else_done( @result ) =head2 $future = $f->else_fail( $exception, @details ) Convenient shortcuts to returning an immediate future from a C block, when the result is already known. =cut sub else_done { my $self = shift; my ( @result ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( \@result, CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SEQ_IMDONE ); } sub else_fail { my $self = shift; my ( @failure ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( \@failure, CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SEQ_IMFAIL ); } =head2 $future = $f1->followed_by( \&code ) Returns a new sequencing C that runs the code regardless of success or failure. Once C<$f1> is ready the code reference will be invoked and is passed one argument, C<$f1>. It should return a future, C<$f2>. Once C<$f2> completes the sequence future will then be marked as complete with whatever result C<$f2> gave. $f2 = $code->( $f1 ) =cut sub followed_by { my $self = shift; my ( $code ) = @_; return $self->_sequence( $code, CB_SEQ_ONDONE|CB_SEQ_ONFAIL|CB_SELF ); } sub and_then { Carp::croak "Future->and_then is now removed; use ->then_with_f instead"; } sub or_else { Carp::croak "Future->or_else is now removed; use ->else_with_f instead"; } =head2 $future = $f1->without_cancel Returns a new sequencing C that will complete with the success or failure of the original future, but if cancelled, will not cancel the original. This may be useful if the original future represents an operation that is being shared among multiple sequences; cancelling one should not prevent the others from running too. =cut sub without_cancel { my $self = shift; my $new = $self->new; $self->on_ready( sub { my $self = shift; if( $self->failure ) { $new->fail( $self->failure ); } else { $new->done( $self->get ); } }); return $new; } =head1 CONVERGENT FUTURES The following constructors all take a list of component futures, and return a new future whose readiness somehow depends on the readiness of those components. The first derived class component future will be used as the prototype for constructing the return value, so it respects subclassing correctly, or failing that a plain C. =cut sub _new_convergent { shift; # ignore this class my ( $subs ) = @_; foreach my $sub ( @$subs ) { blessed $sub and $sub->isa( "Future" ) or Carp::croak "Expected a Future, got $_"; } # Find the best prototype. Ideally anything derived if we can find one. my $self; ref($_) eq "Future" or $self = $_->new, last for @$subs; # No derived ones; just have to be a basic class then $self ||= Future->new; $self->{subs} = $subs; # This might be called by a DESTROY during global destruction so it should # be as defensive as possible (see RT88967) $self->on_cancel( sub { foreach my $sub ( @$subs ) { $sub->cancel if $sub and !$sub->{ready}; } } ); return $self; } =head2 $future = Future->wait_all( @subfutures ) Returns a new C instance that will indicate it is ready once all of the sub future objects given to it indicate that they are ready, either by success, failure or cancellation. Its result will a list of its component futures. When given an empty list this constructor returns a new immediately-done future. This constructor would primarily be used by users of asynchronous interfaces. =cut sub wait_all { my $class = shift; my @subs = @_; unless( @subs ) { my $self = $class->done; $self->{subs} = []; return $self; } my $self = Future->_new_convergent( \@subs ); my $pending = 0; $_->{ready} or $pending++ for @subs; # Look for immediate ready if( !$pending ) { $self->{result} = [ @subs ]; $self->_mark_ready( "wait_all" ); return $self; } weaken( my $weakself = $self ); my $sub_on_ready = sub { return unless $weakself; $pending--; $pending and return; $weakself->{result} = [ @subs ]; $weakself->_mark_ready( "wait_all" ); }; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->on_ready( $sub_on_ready ); } return $self; } =head2 $future = Future->wait_any( @subfutures ) Returns a new C instance that will indicate it is ready once any of the sub future objects given to it indicate that they are ready, either by success or failure. Any remaining component futures that are not yet ready will be cancelled. Its result will be the result of the first component future that was ready; either success or failure. Any component futures that are cancelled are ignored, apart from the final component left; at which point the result will be a failure. When given an empty list this constructor returns an immediately-failed future. This constructor would primarily be used by users of asynchronous interfaces. =cut sub wait_any { my $class = shift; my @subs = @_; unless( @subs ) { my $self = $class->fail( "Cannot ->wait_any with no subfutures" ); $self->{subs} = []; return $self; } my $self = Future->_new_convergent( \@subs ); # Look for immediate ready my $immediate_ready; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} and $immediate_ready = $sub, last; } if( $immediate_ready ) { foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->cancel; } if( $immediate_ready->{failure} ) { $self->{failure} = [ $immediate_ready->failure ]; } else { $self->{result} = [ $immediate_ready->get ]; } $self->_mark_ready( "wait_any" ); return $self; } my $pending = 0; weaken( my $weakself = $self ); my $sub_on_ready = sub { return unless $weakself; return if $weakself->{result} or $weakself->{failure}; # don't recurse on child ->cancel return if --$pending and $_[0]->{cancelled}; if( $_[0]->{cancelled} ) { $weakself->{failure} = [ "All component futures were cancelled" ]; } elsif( $_[0]->{failure} ) { $weakself->{failure} = [ $_[0]->failure ]; } else { $weakself->{result} = [ $_[0]->get ]; } foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->cancel; } $weakself->_mark_ready( "wait_any" ); }; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { # No need to test $sub->{ready} since we know none of them are $sub->on_ready( $sub_on_ready ); $pending++; } return $self; } =head2 $future = Future->needs_all( @subfutures ) Returns a new C instance that will indicate it is ready once all of the sub future objects given to it indicate that they have completed successfully, or when any of them indicates that they have failed. If any sub future fails, then this will fail immediately, and the remaining subs not yet ready will be cancelled. Any component futures that are cancelled will cause an immediate failure of the result. If successful, its result will be a concatenated list of the results of all its component futures, in corresponding order. If it fails, its failure will be that of the first component future that failed. To access each component future's results individually, use C. When given an empty list this constructor returns a new immediately-done future. This constructor would primarily be used by users of asynchronous interfaces. =cut sub needs_all { my $class = shift; my @subs = @_; unless( @subs ) { my $self = $class->done; $self->{subs} = []; return $self; } my $self = Future->_new_convergent( \@subs ); # Look for immediate fail my $immediate_fail; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} and $sub->{failure} and $immediate_fail = $sub, last; } if( $immediate_fail ) { foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->cancel; } $self->{failure} = [ $immediate_fail->failure ]; $self->_mark_ready( "needs_all" ); return $self; } my $pending = 0; $_->{ready} or $pending++ for @subs; # Look for immediate done if( !$pending ) { $self->{result} = [ map { $_->get } @subs ]; $self->_mark_ready( "needs_all" ); return $self; } weaken( my $weakself = $self ); my $sub_on_ready = sub { return unless $weakself; return if $weakself->{result} or $weakself->{failure}; # don't recurse on child ->cancel if( $_[0]->{cancelled} ) { $weakself->{failure} = [ "A component future was cancelled" ]; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->cancel if !$sub->{ready}; } $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_all" ); } elsif( my @failure = $_[0]->failure ) { $weakself->{failure} = \@failure; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->cancel if !$sub->{ready}; } $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_all" ); } else { $pending--; $pending and return; $weakself->{result} = [ map { $_->get } @subs ]; $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_all" ); } }; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->on_ready( $sub_on_ready ); } return $self; } =head2 $future = Future->needs_any( @subfutures ) Returns a new C instance that will indicate it is ready once any of the sub future objects given to it indicate that they have completed successfully, or when all of them indicate that they have failed. If any sub future succeeds, then this will succeed immediately, and the remaining subs not yet ready will be cancelled. Any component futures that are cancelled are ignored, apart from the final component left; at which point the result will be a failure. If successful, its result will be that of the first component future that succeeded. If it fails, its failure will be that of the last component future to fail. To access the other failures, use C. Normally when this future completes successfully, only one of its component futures will be done. If it is constructed with multiple that are already done however, then all of these will be returned from C. Users should be careful to still check all the results from C in that case. When given an empty list this constructor returns an immediately-failed future. This constructor would primarily be used by users of asynchronous interfaces. =cut sub needs_any { my $class = shift; my @subs = @_; unless( @subs ) { my $self = $class->fail( "Cannot ->needs_any with no subfutures" ); $self->{subs} = []; return $self; } my $self = Future->_new_convergent( \@subs ); # Look for immediate done my $immediate_done; my $pending = 0; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} and !$sub->{failure} and $immediate_done = $sub, last; $sub->{ready} or $pending++; } if( $immediate_done ) { foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} ? $sub->{reported} = 1 : $sub->cancel; } $self->{result} = [ $immediate_done->get ]; $self->_mark_ready( "needs_any" ); return $self; } # Look for immediate fail my $immediate_fail = 1; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $immediate_fail = 0, last; } if( $immediate_fail ) { $_->{reported} = 1 for @subs; # For consistency we'll pick the last one for the failure $self->{failure} = [ $subs[-1]->{failure} ]; $self->_mark_ready( "needs_any" ); return $self; } weaken( my $weakself = $self ); my $sub_on_ready = sub { return unless $weakself; return if $weakself->{result} or $weakself->{failure}; # don't recurse on child ->cancel return if --$pending and $_[0]->{cancelled}; if( $_[0]->{cancelled} ) { $weakself->{failure} = [ "All component futures were cancelled" ]; $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_any" ); } elsif( my @failure = $_[0]->failure ) { $pending and return; $weakself->{failure} = \@failure; $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_any" ); } else { $weakself->{result} = [ $_[0]->get ]; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->cancel if !$sub->{ready}; } $weakself->_mark_ready( "needs_any" ); } }; foreach my $sub ( @subs ) { $sub->{ready} or $sub->on_ready( $sub_on_ready ); } return $self; } =head1 METHODS ON CONVERGENT FUTURES The following methods apply to convergent (i.e. non-leaf) futures, to access the component futures stored by it. =cut =head2 @f = $future->pending_futures =head2 @f = $future->ready_futures =head2 @f = $future->done_futures =head2 @f = $future->failed_futures =head2 @f = $future->cancelled_futures Return a list of all the pending, ready, done, failed, or cancelled component futures. In scalar context, each will yield the number of such component futures. =cut sub pending_futures { my $self = shift; $self->{subs} or Carp::croak "Cannot call ->pending_futures on a non-convergent Future"; return grep { not $_->{ready} } @{ $self->{subs} }; } sub ready_futures { my $self = shift; $self->{subs} or Carp::croak "Cannot call ->ready_futures on a non-convergent Future"; return grep { $_->{ready} } @{ $self->{subs} }; } sub done_futures { my $self = shift; $self->{subs} or Carp::croak "Cannot call ->done_futures on a non-convergent Future"; return grep { $_->{ready} and not $_->{failure} and not $_->{cancelled} } @{ $self->{subs} }; } sub failed_futures { my $self = shift; $self->{subs} or Carp::croak "Cannot call ->failed_futures on a non-convergent Future"; return grep { $_->{ready} and $_->{failure} } @{ $self->{subs} }; } sub cancelled_futures { my $self = shift; $self->{subs} or Carp::croak "Cannot call ->cancelled_futures on a non-convergent Future"; return grep { $_->{ready} and $_->{cancelled} } @{ $self->{subs} }; } =head1 TRACING METHODS =head2 $future = $future->set_label( $label ) =head2 $label = $future->label Chaining mutator and accessor for the label of the C. This should be a plain string value, whose value will be stored by the future instance for use in debugging messages or other tooling, or similar purposes. =cut sub set_label { my $self = shift; ( $self->{label} ) = @_; return $self; } sub label { my $self = shift; return $self->{label}; } sub __selfstr { my $self = shift; return "$self" unless defined $self->{label}; return "$self (\"$self->{label}\")"; } =head2 [ $sec, $usec ] = $future->btime =head2 [ $sec, $usec ] = $future->rtime Accessors that return the tracing timestamps from the instance. These give the time the instance was contructed ("birth" time, C) and the time the result was determined (the "ready" time, C). Each result is returned as a two-element ARRAY ref, containing the epoch time in seconds and microseconds, as given by C. In order for these times to be captured, they have to be enabled by setting C<$Future::TIMES> to a true value. This is initialised true at the time the module is loaded if either C or C are set in the environment. =cut sub btime { my $self = shift; return $self->{btime}; } sub rtime { my $self = shift; return $self->{rtime}; } =head2 $sec = $future->elapsed If both tracing timestamps are defined, returns the number of seconds of elapsed time between them as a floating-point number. If not, returns C. =cut sub elapsed { my $self = shift; return undef unless defined $self->{btime} and defined $self->{rtime}; return $self->{elapsed} ||= tv_interval( $self->{btime}, $self->{rtime} ); } =head2 $cb = $future->wrap_cb( $operation_name, $cb ) I I This method is invoked internally by various methods that are about to save a callback CODE reference supplied by the user, to be invoked later. The default implementation simply returns the callback agument as-is; the method is provided to allow users to provide extra behaviour. This can be done by applying a method modifier of the C kind, so in effect add a chain of wrappers. Each wrapper can then perform its own wrapping logic of the callback. C<$operation_name> is a string giving the reason for which the callback is being saved; currently one of C, C, C or C; the latter being used for all the sequence-returning methods. This method is intentionally invoked only for CODE references that are being saved on a pending C instance to be invoked at some later point. It does not run for callbacks to be invoked on an already-complete instance. This is for performance reasons, where the intended behaviour is that the wrapper can provide some amount of context save and restore, to return the operating environment for the callback back to what it was at the time it was saved. For example, the following wrapper saves the value of a package variable at the time the callback was saved, and restores that value at invocation time later on. This could be useful for preserving context during logging in a Future-based program. our $LOGGING_CTX; no warnings 'redefine'; my $orig = Future->can( "wrap_cb" ); *Future::wrap_cb = sub { my $cb = $orig->( @_ ); my $saved_logging_ctx = $LOGGING_CTX; return sub { local $LOGGING_CTX = $saved_logging_ctx; $cb->( @_ ); }; }; At this point, any code deferred into a C by any of its callbacks will observe the C<$LOGGING_CTX> variable as having the value it held at the time the callback was saved, even if it is invoked later on when that value is different. Remember when writing such a wrapper, that it still needs to invoke the previous version of the method, so that it plays nicely in combination with others (see the C<< $orig->( @_ ) >> part). =cut sub wrap_cb { my $self = shift; my ( $op, $cb ) = @_; return $cb; } =head1 EXAMPLES The following examples all demonstrate possible uses of a C object to provide a fictional asynchronous API. For more examples, comparing the use of C with regular call/return style Perl code, see also L. =head2 Providing Results By returning a new C object each time the asynchronous function is called, it provides a placeholder for its eventual result, and a way to indicate when it is complete. sub foperation { my %args = @_; my $future = Future->new; do_something_async( foo => $args{foo}, on_done => sub { $future->done( @_ ); }, ); return $future; } In most cases, the C method will simply be invoked with the entire result list as its arguments. In that case, it is simpler to use the C wrapper method to create the C reference. my $future = Future->new; do_something_async( foo => $args{foo}, on_done => $future->done_cb, ); The caller may then use this future to wait for a result using the C method, and obtain the result using C. my $f = foperation( foo => "something" ); $f->on_ready( sub { my $f = shift; say "The operation returned: ", $f->get; } ); =head2 Indicating Success or Failure Because the stored exception value of a failed future may not be false, the C method can be used in a conditional statement to detect success or failure. my $f = foperation( foo => "something" ); $f->on_ready( sub { my $f = shift; if( not my $e = $f->failure ) { say "The operation succeeded with: ", $f->get; } else { say "The operation failed with: ", $e; } } ); By using C in the condition, the order of the C blocks can be arranged to put the successful case first, similar to a C/C block. Because the C method re-raises the passed exception if the future failed, it can be used to control a C/C block directly. (This is sometimes called I). use Try::Tiny; $f->on_ready( sub { my $f = shift; try { say "The operation succeeded with: ", $f->get; } catch { say "The operation failed with: ", $_; }; } ); Even neater still may be the separate use of the C and C methods. $f->on_done( sub { my @result = @_; say "The operation succeeded with: ", @result; } ); $f->on_fail( sub { my ( $failure ) = @_; say "The operation failed with: $failure"; } ); =head2 Immediate Futures Because the C method returns the future object itself, it can be used to generate a C that is immediately ready with a result. This can also be used as a class method. my $f = Future->done( $value ); Similarly, the C and C methods can be used to generate a C that is immediately failed. my $f = Future->die( "This is never going to work" ); This could be considered similarly to a C call. An C block can be used to turn a C-returning function that might throw an exception, into a C that would indicate this failure. my $f = eval { function() } || Future->fail( $@ ); This is neater handled by the C class method, which wraps the call in an C block and tests the result: my $f = Future->call( \&function ); =head2 Sequencing The C method can be used to create simple chains of dependent tasks, each one executing and returning a C when the previous operation succeeds. my $f = do_first() ->then( sub { return do_second(); }) ->then( sub { return do_third(); }); The result of the C<$f> future itself will be the result of the future returned by the final function, if none of them failed. If any of them fails it will fail with the same failure. This can be considered similar to normal exception handling in synchronous code; the first time a function call throws an exception, the subsequent calls are not made. =head2 Merging Control Flow A C future may be used to resynchronise control flow, while waiting for multiple concurrent operations to finish. my $f1 = foperation( foo => "something" ); my $f2 = foperation( bar => "something else" ); my $f = Future->wait_all( $f1, $f2 ); $f->on_ready( sub { say "Operations are ready:"; say " foo: ", $f1->get; say " bar: ", $f2->get; } ); This provides an ability somewhat similar to C or L. =cut =head1 KNOWN ISSUES =head2 Cancellation of Non-Final Sequence Futures The behaviour of future cancellation still has some unanswered questions regarding how to handle the situation where a future is cancelled that has a sequence future constructed from it. In particular, it is unclear in each of the following examples what the behaviour of C<$f2> should be, were C<$f1> to be cancelled: $f2 = $f1->then( sub { ... } ); # plus related ->then_with_f, ... $f2 = $f1->else( sub { ... } ); # plus related ->else_with_f, ... $f2 = $f1->followed_by( sub { ... } ); In the C-style case it is likely that this situation should be treated as if C<$f1> had failed, perhaps with some special message. The C-style case is more complex, because it may be that the entire operation should still fail, or it may be that the cancellation of C<$f1> should again be treated simply as a special kind of failure, and the C logic run as normal. To be specific; in each case it is unclear what happens if the first future is cancelled, while the second one is still waiting on it. The semantics for "normal" top-down cancellation of C<$f2> and how it affects C<$f1> are already clear and defined. =head2 Cancellation of Divergent Flow A further complication of cancellation comes from the case where a given future is reused multiple times for multiple sequences or convergent trees. In particular, it is in clear in each of the following examples what the behaviour of C<$f2> should be, were C<$f1> to be cancelled: my $f_initial = Future->new; ... my $f1 = $f_initial->then( ... ); my $f2 = $f_initial->then( ... ); my $f1 = Future->needs_all( $f_initial ); my $f2 = Future->needs_all( $f_initial ); The point of cancellation propagation is to trace backwards through stages of some larger sequence of operations that now no longer need to happen, because the final result is no longer required. But in each of these cases, just because C<$f1> has been cancelled, the initial future C<$f_initial> is still required because there is another future (C<$f2>) that will still require its result. Initially it would appear that some kind of reference-counting mechanism could solve this question, though that itself is further complicated by the C handler and its variants. It may simply be that a comprehensive useful set of cancellation semantics can't be universally provided to cover all cases; and that some use-cases at least would require the application logic to give extra information to its C objects on how they should wire up the cancel propagation logic. Both of these cancellation issues are still under active design consideration; see the discussion on RT96685 for more information (L). =cut =head1 SEE ALSO =over 4 =item * L - Create automatic curried method call closures for any class or object =item * "The Past, The Present and The Future" - slides from a talk given at the London Perl Workshop, 2012. L =item * "Futures advent calendar 2013" L =back =cut =head1 TODO =over 4 =item * Consider the ability to pass the constructor an C CODEref, instead of needing to use a subclass. This might simplify async/etc.. implementations, and allows the reuse of the idea of subclassing to extend the abilities of C itself - for example to allow a kind of Future that can report incremental progress. =back =cut =head1 AUTHOR Paul Evans =cut 0x55AA;