timers-ext

What is timers-ext?

The timers-ext npm package provides extended timer functionalities for JavaScript, including delay, debounce, throttle, and more. It is useful for managing and controlling the execution of functions over time.

What are timers-ext's main functionalities?

delay

The delay function pauses the execution of the code for a specified amount of time. In this example, the code waits for 2 seconds before logging 'End'.

const delay = require('timers-ext/delay');

async function example() {
  console.log('Start');
  await delay(2000); // Delay for 2 seconds
  console.log('End');
}

example();

debounce

The debounce function ensures that a function is only called once after a specified delay period has passed since the last time it was invoked. This is useful for events like window resizing.

const debounce = require('timers-ext/debounce');

function onResize() {
  console.log('Resized');
}

const debouncedResize = debounce(onResize, 300);

window.addEventListener('resize', debouncedResize);

throttle

The throttle function ensures that a function is called at most once in a specified time period. This is useful for events like scrolling where you want to limit the number of times a function is called.

const throttle = require('timers-ext/throttle');

function onScroll() {
  console.log('Scrolled');
}

const throttledScroll = throttle(onScroll, 1000);

window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledScroll);

Other packages similar to timers-ext

lodash

Lodash is a popular utility library that provides a wide range of functions for common programming tasks, including debounce and throttle. It is more comprehensive than timers-ext and includes many other utilities for working with arrays, objects, and more.

underscore

Underscore is another utility library similar to Lodash that provides a variety of functional programming helpers, including debounce and throttle. It is less feature-rich than Lodash but still widely used for its simplicity and ease of use.

async

The async library provides powerful functions for working with asynchronous JavaScript, including control flow, collections, and more. While it does not focus specifically on timers, it offers various utilities for managing asynchronous operations.

README

timers-ext

Timers extensions

Installation

$ npm install timers-ext

To port it to Browser or any other (non CJS) environment, use your favorite CJS bundler. No favorite yet? Try: Browserify, Webmake or Webpack

API

MAX*TIMEOUT *(timers-ext/max-timeout)_

Maximum possible timeout value in milliseconds. It equals to maximum positive value for 32bit signed integer, so 2³¹ (2147483647), which makes it around 24.9 days

delay(fn[, timeout]) (timers-ext/delay)

Returns function which when invoked will call fn function after specified timeout. If timeout is not provided nextTick propagation is used.

once(fn[, timeout]) (timers-ext/once)

Makes sure to execute fn function only once after a defined interval of time (debounce). If timeout is not provided nextTick propagation is used.

var nextTick = require("next-tick");
var logFoo = function () { console.log("foo"); };
var logFooOnce = require("timers-ext/once")(logFoo);

logFooOnce();
logFooOnce(); // ignored, logFoo will be logged only once
logFooOnce(); // ignored

nextTick(function () {
  logFooOnce(); // Invokes another log (as tick passed)
  logFooOnce(); // ignored
  logFooOnce(); // ignored
});

validTimeout(timeout) (timers-ext/valid-timeout)

Validates timeout value.
For NaN resolved timeout 0 is returned. If timeout resolves to a number:

• for timeout < 0 0 is returned
• for 0 >= timeout <= MAX_TIMEOUT, timeout value is returned
• for timeout > MAX_TIMEOUT exception is thrown

Tests

$ npm test

Security contact information

To report a security vulnerability, please use the Tidelift security contact. Tidelift will coordinate the fix and disclosure.