Promise

This is a implementation of Promises in Python. It is a super set of Promises/A+ designed to have readable, performant code and to provide just the extensions that are absolutely necessary for using promises in Python.

Its fully compatible with the Promises/A+ spec

Installation

$ pip install promise

Usage

The example below shows how you can load the promise library. It then demonstrates creating a promise from scratch. You simply call Promise(fn). There is a complete specification for what is returned by this method in Promises/A+.

from promise import Promise

promise = Promise(
    lambda resolve, reject: resolve('RESOLVED!')
)

API

Before all examples, you will need:

from promise import Promise

Promise(resolver)

This creates and returns a new promise. resolver must be a function. The resolver function is passed two arguments:

1. resolve should be called with a single argument. If it is called with a non-promise value then the promise is fulfilled with that value. If it is called with a promise (A) then the returned promise takes on the state of that new promise (A).
2. reject should be called with a single argument. The returned promise will be rejected with that argument.

Class Methods

These methods are invoked by calling Promise.methodName.

Promise.resolve(value)

Converts values and foreign promises into Promises/A+ promises. If you pass it a value then it returns a Promise for that value. If you pass it something that is close to a promise (such as a jQuery attempt at a promise) it returns a Promise that takes on the state of value (rejected or fulfilled).

Promise.reject(value)

Returns a rejected promise with the given value.

Promise.all(list)

Returns a promise for a list. If it is called with a single argument then this returns a promise for a copy of that list with any promises replaced by their fulfilled values. e.g.

p = Promise.all([Promise.resolve('a'), 'b', Promise.resolve('c')]) \
       .then(lambda res: res == ['a', 'b', 'c'])

assert p.get() is True

Promise.cast(obj)

This function wraps the obj ect as a Promise if possible. Python Futures are supported, with a callback to promise.done when resolved. Has the same effects as Promise.resolve(obj).

Promise.for_dict(d)

A special function that takes a dictionary of promises and turns them into a promise for a dictionary of values. In other words, this turns a dictionary of promises for values into a promise for a dictionary of values.

Promise.is_thenable(obj)

This function checks if the obj is a Promise, or could be casted.

Promise.promisify(func)

This function wraps the result of calling func in a Promise instance.

Instance Methods

These methods are invoked on a promise instance by calling myPromise.methodName

promise.then(did_fulfill, did_reject)

This method follows the Promises/A+ spec. It explains things very clearly so I recommend you read it.

Either did_fulfill or did_reject will be called and they will not be called more than once. They will be passed a single argument and will always be called asynchronously (in the next turn of the event loop).

If the promise is fulfilled then did_fulfill is called. If the promise is rejected then did_reject is called.

The call to .then also returns a promise. If the handler that is called returns a promise, the promise returned by .then takes on the state of that returned promise. If the handler that is called returns a value that is not a promise, the promise returned by .then will be fulfilled with that value. If the handler that is called throws an exception then the promise returned by .then is rejected with that exception.

promise.catch(did_reject)

Sugar for promise.then(None, did_reject), to mirror catch in synchronous code.

promise.done(did_fulfill, did_reject)

The same semantics as .then except that it does not return a promise and any exceptions are re-thrown so that they can be logged (crashing the application in non-browser environments)

Contributing

After cloning this repo, ensure dependencies are installed by running:

pip install -e ".[test]"

After developing, the full test suite can be evaluated by running:

py.test tests --cov=promise --benchmark-skip # Use -v -s for verbose mode

You can also run the benchmarks with:

py.test tests --benchmark-only

Static type checking

Python type annotations are very useful for making sure we use the libary the way is intended.

You can run mypy static type checker:

pip install mypy
mypy promise  --ignore-missing-imports

Or pyre:

pip install pyre-check
pyre --source-directory promise check

Notes

This package is heavily insipired in aplus.

License

MIT License