AsyncGenerator
The AsyncGenerator
object is returned by an async generator function and it conforms to both the async iterable protocol and the async iterator protocol.
Async generator methods always yield Promise
objects.
AsyncGenerator
is a subclass of the hidden AsyncIterator
class.
Try it
Constructor
The AsyncGenerator
constructor is not available globally. Instances of AsyncGenerator
must be returned from async generator functions
js
async function* createAsyncGenerator() {
yield await Promise.resolve(1);
yield await Promise.resolve(2);
yield await Promise.resolve(3);
}
const asyncGen = createAsyncGenerator();
asyncGen.next().then((res) => console.log(res.value)); // 1
asyncGen.next().then((res) => console.log(res.value)); // 2
asyncGen.next().then((res) => console.log(res.value)); // 3
In fact, there's no JavaScript entity that corresponds to the AsyncGenerator
constructor. There's only a hidden object which is the prototype object shared by all objects created by async generator functions. This object is often stylized as AsyncGenerator.prototype
to make it look like a class, but it should be more appropriately called AsyncGeneratorFunction.prototype.prototype
, because AsyncGeneratorFunction
is an actual JavaScript entity.
Instance properties
These properties are defined on AsyncGenerator.prototype
and shared by all AsyncGenerator
instances.
AsyncGenerator.prototype.constructor
-
The constructor function that created the instance object. For
AsyncGenerator
instances, the initial value isAsyncGeneratorFunction.prototype
.Note:
AsyncGenerator
objects do not store a reference to the async generator function that created them. AsyncGenerator.prototype[@@toStringTag]
-
The initial value of the
@@toStringTag
property is the string"AsyncGenerator"
. This property is used inObject.prototype.toString()
.
Instance methods
Also inherits instance methods from its parent AsyncIterator
.
AsyncGenerator.prototype.next()
-
Returns a
Promise
which will be resolved with the given value yielded by theyield
expression. AsyncGenerator.prototype.return()
-
Acts as if a
return
statement is inserted in the generator's body at the current suspended position, which finishes the generator and allows the generator to perform any cleanup tasks when combined with atry...finally
block. AsyncGenerator.prototype.throw()
-
Acts as if a
throw
statement is inserted in the generator's body at the current suspended position, which informs the generator of an error condition and allows it to handle the error, or perform cleanup and close itself.
Examples
Async generator iteration
The following example iterates over an async generator, logging values 1–6 to the console at decreasing time intervals. Notice how each time a Promise is yielded, but it's automatically resolved within the for await...of
loop.
js
// An async task. Pretend it's doing something more useful
// in practice.
function delayedValue(time, value) {
return new Promise((resolve /*, reject*/) => {
setTimeout(() => resolve(value), time);
});
}
async function* generate() {
yield delayedValue(2000, 1);
yield delayedValue(100, 2);
yield delayedValue(500, 3);
yield delayedValue(250, 4);
yield delayedValue(125, 5);
yield delayedValue(50, 6);
console.log("All done!");
}
async function main() {
for await (const value of generate()) {
console.log("value", value);
}
}
main().catch((e) => console.error(e));
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-asyncgenerator-objects |
Browser compatibility
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