Add a unified operation extension to Promise

Intro

ES6 added Promise. A Promise only has two callback methods: then and catch.

Later, Promise also got two extra methods. You have to attach them yourself, of course.

• One is done: http://es6.ruanyifeng.com/#docs/promise#done (opens in a new tab)

• One is finally: http://es6.ruanyifeng.com/#docs/promise#finally (opens in a new tab)

Follow the links above if you want the background, or look at the official source for how they are implemented: done (opens in a new tab) and finally (opens in a new tab)

The unified method

There is still no unified handler for then and catch.

If the last-step logic in then and catch is basically the same, you end up writing it twice.

You can pull the shared logic into a function, but that still looks a bit awkward. It would be nicer to have one callback that handles both resolve and reject.

We can add a method on Promise.prototype. That method catches resolve and reject, then hands them to a callback. The code is simple:

Promise.prototype.unified = function (callback) {
  this.then(
    data => callback(true, data),
    data => callback(false, data)
  )
}

Usage is straightforward. First, a Promise without the unified handler:

let promise = new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
  if (false){
    setTimeout(() => resolve('success'), 1000)
  } else {
    setTimeout(() => reject('error'), 1000)
  }
})

promise
  .then((data) => {
    console.log(
      state: true,
      data: data,
      msg: 'operation successful'
    )
  })
  .catch((data) => {
    console.log(
      state: false,
      data: data,
      msg: 'operation failed'
    )
  })

Now the same thing with unified:

let promise = new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
  if (false){
    setTimeout(() => resolve('success'), 1000)
  } else {
    setTimeout(() => reject('error'), 1000)
  }
})

promise.unified((state, data) => {
  const msg = state ? 'operation successful' : 'operation failed'
  console.log(
    state,
    data,
    msg
  )
})

A lot more convenient, right? That said, this couples the code. Use it carefully or later maintenance will hurt.