setimmediate

What is setimmediate?

The setimmediate npm package is a simple and lightweight implementation of the setImmediate API, which is designed to execute a function once the current event loop tick is complete. It is a polyfill for the setImmediate function that is not available in all JavaScript environments, such as older browsers or certain Node.js versions.

What are setimmediate's main functionalities?

Scheduling functions to run after the current event loop tick

This feature allows you to schedule a function to be executed after the current event loop tick has finished. It is useful for deferring execution without using setTimeout with a delay of 0.

require('setimmediate');
setImmediate(() => {
  console.log('This will run after the current event loop tick.');
});

Clearing a scheduled immediate

This feature provides the ability to cancel a scheduled immediate, preventing the function from being executed if it has not already been called.

require('setimmediate');
const handle = setImmediate(() => {
  console.log('This will not run.');
});
clearImmediate(handle);

Other packages similar to setimmediate

process.nextTick

process.nextTick is a Node.js specific feature that allows you to schedule callbacks to be invoked in the next iteration of the event loop. It is similar to setImmediate but with a higher priority, executing before any additional I/O events (including timers) are processed.

bluebird

Bluebird is a comprehensive promise library that includes a utility for deferring functions similar to setImmediate. It provides a method called .defer() which can be used to schedule tasks to run in the future. Bluebird's implementation may differ in terms of performance and timing guarantees.

asap

The asap package is a task scheduler that prioritizes tasks in a way that, like setImmediate, they run after the current call stack but with different internal mechanisms. It aims to execute tasks as soon as possible while being faster than setTimeout or setImmediate in some cases.