`fit::promise<>` User Guide

Welcome! You probably dislike writing code in C++ that describes multi-step asynchronous operations.

fit::promise<> [1] makes this a bit easier. This guide covers common problems in asynchronous control flow programming and offers common usage patterns which solve those problems in the fit::promise<> library.

What makes asynchronous code challenging?

Within the fit::promise<> library an asynchronous task is defined as one that is made up of multiple synchronous blocks of code with explicit suspend points.

When defining an asynchronous task, there must be solutions for the following problems:

Expressing the flow of control: how is the sequence of synchronous blocks and how data flows between them expressed? How is this done in an understandable way?
Management of state & resources: what intermediate state is needed to support task execution, and what external resources must be captured? How is this expressed and how is it done safely?

Terminology

fit::promise<> is a move-only object made up of a collection of lambdas or callbacks that describes an asynchronous task which eventually produces a value or an error.
a handler function is a callback provided at promise creation.
a continuation function is a callback provided to various methods of continuation on an existing promise.
a fit::executor is responsible for scheduling and executing promises. Promises do not run until their ownership has been transferred to a fit::executor. At this point the executor is responsible for its scheduling and execution.
fit::context is optionally passed to handler and continuation functions to gain access to the fit::executor and to low-level suspend and resume controls.

Building & executing your first `fit::promise<>`

Let's write a simple promise.

#include <lib/fit/promise.h>

...
fit::promise<> p = fit::make_promise([] {
  // This is a handler function.

  auto world_is_flat = AssessIfWorldIsFlat();
  if (world_is_flat) {
    return fit::error();
  }
  return fit::ok();
});

p now contains a promise that describes a simple task.

In order to run the promise, it must be scheduled it on an implementation of fit::executor. The most commonly used executor is an async::Executor [2] which schedules callbacks on an async_dispatcher_t. For the purposes of testing and exploration, there is also fit::single_threaded_executor and its associated method fit::run_single_threaded() [3] which is used here.

// When a promise is scheduled, the `fit::executor` takes ownership of it.
fit::result<> result = fit::run_single_threaded(std::move(p));
assert(result.is_ok());

Building a more complex `fit::promise<>`

Return, error types & resolution states

As mentioned above, the template arguments for fit::promise<> represent the return and error types:

fit::promise<ValueType, ErrorType>

The error type can be omitted and it will take the default error type of void (e.g. fit::promise<MyValueType> is equivalent to fit::promise<MyValueType, void>).

During execution, a promise must eventually reach one of the following states:

Success: the handler function or the last continuation function (see below) has returned fit::ok().
Error: the handler function or some continuation function has returned fit::error(), and no subsequent continuation function has intercepted it.
Abandoned: the promise was destroyed before resolving to either Success or Error.

`.then()`, `.and_then()`, `.or_else()`: Chaining asynchronous blocks

Often complex tasks can be decomposed into smaller more granular tasks. Each of these tasks needs to be asynchronously executed, but if there is some dependency between the tasks, there is a need to preserve them. This can be achieved through different combinators, such as:

fit::promise::then() becomes useful for defining task dependency, as execute task 1 then task 2, regardless of task 1‘s status. The prior task’s result is received through an argument of type fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType>& or const fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType>&.

auto execute_task_1_then_task_2 =
    fit::make_promise([]() -> fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType> {
      ...
    }).then([](fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType>& result) {
      if (result.is_ok()) {
        ...
      } else {  // result.is_error()
        ...
      }
    });

fit::promise::and_then() becomes useful for defining task dependency only in the case of task 1‘s success. The prior task’s result is received through an argument of type ValueType& or ValueType&.

auto execute_task_1_then_task_2 =
    fit::make_promise([]() { ... }).and_then([](ValueType& success_value) {
      ...
    });

fit::promise::or_else() becomes useful for defining task dependency only in the case of task 1‘s failure. The prior task’s result is received through an argument of type ErrorType& or const ErrorType&.

auto execute_task_1_then_task_2 =
    fit::make_promise([]() { ... }).or_else([](ErrorType& failure_value) {
      ...
    });

`fit::join_promises()` & `fit::join_promise_vector()`: Executing in parallel

Sometimes, multiple promises can be executed with no dependencies between them, but the aggregate result is a dependency of the next asynchronous step. In this case, fit::join_promises() and fit::join_promise_vector() are used to join on the results of multiple promises.

fit::join_promises() is used when each promise is referenced by a variable. fit::join_promises() supports heterogeneous promise types. The prior tasks' results are received through an argument of type std::tuple<...>& or const std::tuple<...>&.

auto DoImportantThingsInParallel() {
  auto promise1 = FetchStringFromDbAsync("foo");
  auto promise2 = InitializeFrobinatorAsync();
  return fit::join_promises(std::move(promise1), std::move(promise2))
      .and_then([](std::tuple<fit::result<std::string>,
                              fit::result<Frobinator>>& results) {
        return fit::ok(std::get<0>(results).value() +
                       std::get<1>(results).value().GetFrobinatorSummary());
      });
}

fit::join_promise_vector() is used when the promises are stored in std::vector<>. This has the added constraint that all promises must be homogeneous (be of the same type). The prior tasks' results are received through an argument of type std::vector<fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType>>& or const std::vector<fit::result<ValueType, ErrorType>>&.

auto ConcatenateImportantThingsDoneInParallel() {
  std::vector<fit::promise<std::string>> promises;
  promises.push_back(FetchStringFromDbAsync("foo"));
  promises.push_back(FetchStringFromDbAsync("bar"));
  return fit::join_promise_vector(std::move(promises))
      .and_then([](std::vector<fit::result<std::string>>& results) {
        return fit::ok(results[0].value() + "," + results[1].value());
      });
}

`return fit::make_promise()`: Chaining or branching by returning new

promises

It may become useful to defer the decision of which promises to chain together until runtime. This method is in contrast with chaining that is performed syntactically (through the use of consecutive .then(), .and_then() and .or_else() calls).

Instead of returning a fit::result<...> (using fit::ok or fit::error), the handler function may return a new promise which will be evaluated after the handler function returns.

fit::make_promise(...)
  .then([] (fit::result<>& result) {
    if (result.is_ok()) {
      return fit::make_promise(...); // Do work in success case.
    } else {
      return fit::make_promise(...); // Error case.
    }
  });

This pattern is also useful to decompose what could be a long promise into smaller readable chunks, such as by having a continuation function return the result of DoImportantThingsInParallel() from the example above.

Note: See the gotcha “Handlers / continuation functions can return ...” below.

Declaring and keeping intermediate state alive

Some tasks require state be kept alive only so long as the promise itself is either pending or executing. This state is not suited to be moved into any given lambda due to its need to be shared, nor is it appropriate to transfer ownership to a longer-lived container due to a desire for its lifecycle to be coupled to the promise.

Although not the only solution, usage of both std::unique_ptr<> and std::shared_ptr<> are common patterns:

`std::unique_ptr<>`

fit::promise<> MakePromise() {
  struct State {
    int i;
  };
  // Create a single std::unique_ptr<> container for an instance of State and
  // capture raw pointers to the state in the handler and continuations.
  //
  // Ownership of the underlying memory is transferred to a lambda passed to
  // `.inspect()`. |state| will die when the returned promise is resolved or is
  // abandoned.
  auto state = std::make_unique<State>();
  state->i = 0;
  return fit::make_promise([state = state.get()] { state->i++; })
      .and_then([state = state.get()] { state->i--; })
      .inspect([state = std::move(state)](const fit::result<>&) {});
}

`std::shared_ptr<>`

fit::promise<> MakePromise() {
  struct State {
    int i;
  };
  // Rely on shared_ptr's reference counting to destroy |state| when it is safe
  // to do so.
  auto state = std::make_shared<State>();
  state->i = 0;
  return fit::make_promise([state] { state->i++; }).and_then([state] {
    state->i--;
  });
}

`fit::scope`: Abandoning promises to avoid memory safety violations

fit::scope becomes useful to tie the lifecycle of a fit::promise<> to a resource in memory. For example:

#include <lib/fit/scope.h>

class A {
 public:
  fit::promise<> MakePromise() {
    // Capturing |this| is dangerous: the returned promise will be scheduled
    // and executed in an unknown context. Use |scope_| to protect against
    // possible memory safety violations.
    //
    // The call to `.wrap_with(scope_)` abandons the promise if |scope_| is
    // destroyed. Since |scope_| and |this| share the same lifecycle, it is safe
    // to capture |this|.
    return fit::make_promise([this] {
             // |foo_| is critical to the operation!
             return fit::ok(foo_.Frobinate());
           })
        .wrap_with(scope_);
  }

 private:
  Frobinator foo_;
  fit::scope scope_;
};

void main() {
  auto a = std::make_unique<A>();
  auto promise = a->MakePromise();
  a.reset();
  // |promise| will not run any more, even if scheduled, protected access to the
  // out-of-scope resources.
}

`fit::sequencer`: Blocking a promise on a separate promise's completion

TODO: you can .wrap_with(sequencer) to block this promise on the completion of the last promise wrapped with the same sequencer object

#include <lib/fit/sequencer.h>
// TODO

`fit::bridge`: integrating with callback-based async functions

TODO: fit::bridge is useful to chain continuation off a callback-based async function

#include <lib/fit/bridge.h>
// TODO

`fit::bridge`: decoupling execution of a single chain of continuation

TODO: fit::bridge is also useful to decouple one chain of continuation into two promises that can be executed on different fit::executor instances

Common gotchas

Sequences of `and_then` or `or_else` must have compatible types

When building promises using and_then, each successive continuation may have a different ValueType but must have the same ErrorType because and_then forwards prior errors without consuming them.

When building promises using or_else, each successive continuation may have a different ErrorType but must have the same ValueType because or_else forwards prior values without consuming them.

To change types in the middle of the sequence, use then to consume the prior result and produce a new result of the desired type.

The following example does not compile because the error type returned by the last and_then handler is incompatible with the prior handler's result.

auto a = fit::make_promise([] {
  // returns fit::result<int, void>
  return fit::ok(4);
}).and_then([] (const int& value) {
  // returns fit::result<float, void>
  return fit::ok(value * 2.2f);
}).and_then([] (const float& value) {
  // ERROR!  Prior result had "void" error type but this handler returns const
  // char*.
  if (value >= 0)
    return fit::ok(value);
  return fit::error("bad value");
}

Use then to consume the result and change its type:

auto a = fit::make_promise([] {
  // returns fit::result<int, void>
  return fit::ok(4);
}).and_then([] (const int& value) {
  // returns fit::result<float, void>
  return fit::ok(value * 2.2f);
}).then([] (const fit::result<float>& result) -> fit::result<float, const char*> {
  if (result.is_ok() && result.value() >= 0)
    return fit::ok(value);
  return fit::error("bad value");
}

Handlers / continuation functions can return `fit::result<>` or a new `fit::promise<>`, not both

You may wish to write a handler which return a fit::promise<> in one conditional branch and a fit::ok() or fit::error() in another. This is illegal because there is no way for the compiler to cast a fit::result<> to a fit::promise<>.

The workaround is to return a fit::promise<> that resolves to the result you want:

auto a = fit::make_promise([] {
  if (condition) {
    return MakeComplexPromise();
  }
  return fit::make_ok_promise(42);
});

Continuation signatures

Have you seen an error message like this?

../../zircon/system/ulib/fit/include/lib/fit/promise_internal.h:342:5: error: static_assert failed "The provided handler's last argument was expected to be of type V& or const V& where V is the prior result's value type and E is the prior result's error type.  Please refer to the combinator's documentation for
 a list of supported handler function signatures."

or:

../../zircon/system/ulib/fit/include/lib/fit/promise.h:288:5: error: static_assert failed due to requirement '::fit::internal::is_continuation<fit::internal::and_then_continuation<fit::promise_impl<fit::function_impl<16, false, fit::result<fuchsia::modular::storymodel::StoryModel, void> (fit::context &)> >, (lambda at ../../src/modular/bin/sessionmgr/story/model/ledger_story_model_storage.cc:222:17)>, void>::value' "Continuation type is invalid.  A continuation is a callable object with this signature: fit::result<V, E>(fit::context&)."

This most likely means that one of the continuation functions has a signature that isn't valid. The valid signatures for different continuation functions are shown below:

For .then():

.then([] (fit::result<V, E>& result) {});
.then([] (const fit::result<V, E>& result) {});
.then([] (fit::context& c, fit::result<V, E>& result) {});
.then([] (fit::context& c, const fit::result<V, E>& result) {});

For .and_then():

.and_then([] (V& success_value) {});
.and_then([] (const V& success_value) {});
.and_then([] (fit::context& c, V& success_value) {});
.and_then([] (fit::context& c, const V& success_value) {});

For .or_else():

.or_else([] (E& error_value) {});
.or_else([] (const E& error_value) {});
.or_else([] (fit::context& c, E& error_value) {});
.or_else([] (fit::context& c, const E& error_value) {});

For .inspect():

.inspect([] (fit::result<V, E>& result) {});
.inspect([] (const fit::result<V, E>& result) {});

Captures and Argument Lifecycle

Promises are composed of handler and continuation functions that are usually lambdas. Care must be taken when constructing lambda capture lists to avoid capturing memory that is will not be valid when the handler or continuation in question executes.

For example, this promise captures memory that is guaranteed to be invalid by the time Foo() returns (and thus, when the returned promise is scheduled and executed).

fit::promise<> Foo() {
  int i;
  return fit::make_promise([&i] {
    i++;  // |i| is only valid within the scope of Foo().
  });
}

Instances in real code are more nuanced. A slightly less obvious example:

fit::promise<> Foo() {
  return fit::make_promise(
      [i = 0] { return fit::make_promise([&i] { i++; }); });
}

fit::promise eagerly destroys handler and continuation functions: the outer-most handler will be destroyed once it returns the inner-most handler. See “Declaring and keeping intermediate state alive” above for the correct pattern to use in this case.

>>> sections to write

converting from one error type to another
fit::bridge
common gotchas: captured state lifecycle

fit::promise<> User Guide

What makes asynchronous code challenging?

Terminology

Building & executing your first fit::promise<>

Building a more complex fit::promise<>

Return, error types & resolution states

.then(), .and_then(), .or_else(): Chaining asynchronous blocks

fit::join_promises() & fit::join_promise_vector(): Executing in parallel

return fit::make_promise(): Chaining or branching by returning new