@chriscdn/promise-semaphore

Limit or throttle the concurrent execution of asynchronous code in separate iterations of the event loop.

Installing

Using npm:

npm install @chriscdn/promise-semaphore

Using yarn:

yarn add @chriscdn/promise-semaphore

Version 3

Version 3 introduces two main changes:

• A new GroupSemaphore class has been added. It allows multiple tasks within the same group (identified by a key) to run concurrently while ensuring that only one group's tasks are active at a time. See below for documentation.
• The default export has been replaced with a named export.

Change:

import Semaphore from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";

to:

import { Semaphore } from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";

API - Semaphore

Create an instance

import { Semaphore } from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";
const semaphore = new Semaphore([maxConcurrent]);

The maxConcurrent parameter is optional and defaults to 1 (making it an exclusive lock or binary semaphore). An integer greater than 1 can be used to allow multiple concurrent executions from separate iterations of the event loop.

Acquire a lock

semaphore.acquire([key]);

This returns a Promise that resolves once a lock is acquired. The key parameter is optional and allows the same Semaphore instance to manage locks in different contexts. Additional details are provided in the second example.

Release a lock

semaphore.release([key]);

The release method should be called within a finally block (whether using promises or a try/catch block) to ensure the lock is released.

Check if a lock can be acquired

semaphore.canAcquire([key]);

This synchronous method returns true if a lock can be immediately acquired, and false otherwise.

count

semaphore.count([key]);

This function is synchronous, and returns the current number of locks.

request method

const results = await semaphore.request(fn [, key]);

This function reduces boilerplate when using acquire and release. It returns a promise that resolves when fn completes. It is functionally equivalent to:

try {
  await semaphore.acquire([key]);
  return await fn();
} finally {
  semaphore.release([key]);
}

requestIfAvailable method

const results = await semaphore.requestIfAvailable(fn [, key]);

This is functionally equivalent to:

return semaphore.canAcquire([key]) ? await semaphore.request(fn, [key]) : null;

This is useful in scenarios where only one instance of a function block should run while discarding additional attempts. For example, handling repeated button clicks.

Example 1

import { Semaphore } from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";
const semaphore = new Semaphore();

// Using promises
semaphore
  .acquire()
  .then(() => {
    // This block executes once a lock is acquired.
    // If already locked, it waits and executes after all preceding locks are released.
    //
    // Critical operations
  })
  .finally(() => {
    // The lock is released, allowing the next queued block to proceed.
    semaphore.release();
  });

// Using async/await
try {
  await semaphore.acquire();

  // Critical operations
} finally {
  semaphore.release();
}

// Using the request function
await semaphore.request(() => {
  // Critical operations
});

Example 2

Consider an asynchronous function that downloads a file and saves it to disk:

const downloadAndSave = async (url) => {
  const filePath = urlToFilePath(url);

  if (await pathExists(filePath)) {
    // The file is already on disk, so no action is required.
    return filePath;
  }

  await downloadAndSaveToFilepath(url, filePath);
  return filePath;
};

This approach works as expected until downloadAndSave() is called multiple times in quick succession with the same url. Without control, it could initiate simultaneous downloads that attempt to write to the same file at the same time.

This issue can be resolved by using a Semaphore with the key parameter:

import { Semaphore } from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";
const semaphore = new Semaphore();

const downloadAndSave = async (url) => {
  try {
    await semaphore.acquire(url);

    // This block continues once a lock on url is acquired. This
    // permits multiple simultaneous downloads for different urls.

    const filePath = urlToFilePath(url);

    if (await pathExists(filePath)) {
      // the file is on disk, so no action is required
    } else {
      await downloadAndSaveToFilepath(url, filePath);
    }

    return filePath;
  } finally {
    semaphore.release(url);
  }
};

The same outcome can be achieved by using the request function:

const downloadAndSave = (url) => {
  return semaphore.request(async () => {
    const filePath = urlToFilePath(url);

    if (await pathExists(filePath)) {
      // The file is already on disk, so no action is required.
    } else {
      await downloadAndSaveToFilepath(url, filePath);
    }
    return filePath;
  }, url);
};

API - GroupSemaphore

The GroupSemaphore class manages a semaphore for different groups of tasks. A group is identified by a key, and the semaphore ensures that only one group can run its tasks at a time. The tasks within a group can run concurrently.

The GroupSemaphore class exposes acquire and release methods, which have the same interface as Semaphore. The only difference is that the key parameter is required.

Example

import { GroupSemaphore } from "@chriscdn/promise-semaphore";

const groupSemaphore = new GroupSemaphore();

const RunA = async () => {
  try {
    await groupSemaphore.acquire("GroupA");

    // Perform asynchronous operations for group A
  } finally {
    groupSemaphore.release("GroupA");
  }
};

const RunB = async () => {
  try {
    await groupSemaphore.acquire("GroupB");

    // Perform asynchronous operations for group B
  } finally {
    groupSemaphore.release("GroupB");
  }
};

This setup allows RunA to be called multiple times, and will run concurrently. However, calling RunB will wait until all GroupA tasks are completed before acquiring the lock for GroupB. As soon as GroupB acquires the lock, any subsequent calls to RunA will wait until GroupB releases the lock before it executes.

License

MIT