Implementing Asynchronous Tasks with $q in AngularJS

AngularJS has provided $q service that can be used to implement asynchronous tasks. It uses deferred objects and the promises they return to accomplish asynchronous runs.

A basic example of using $q:

function myAsyncFunc() {
  // create a deferred object
  var deferredObject = $q.defer();

  . . .

  // if for a reason, we want to cancel this task
  if (errorOccured) {
        deferredObject.reject('an error has occured');
        return deferredObject.promise;
  }

  // after the job is completed, call resolve()
  deferredObject.resolve();

  . . .

  // return the promise
  return deferredObject.promise;
}

// then on the caller
myAsyncFunc().then(
  // success (when resolve() was called)
  function() {
    alert('success')
  },
  // error (when reject() was called)
  function(reason) {
    alert('failed: ' + reason)
  }
)

We can also return an object when the task is completed. To do this, just pass the object as an argument to the resolve() function instead of nothing. Below is an example:

function myAsyncFunc() {
  var myObject = . . .
  deferredObject.resolve(myObject);
}

// then on the caller, we can use the passed object
myAsyncFunc().then(
  // success
  function(passedObj) {
    . . .
  }
);

When resolving a deferred object, we can use deep nesting functions if required. As long as the deferred object variable is accessible, this should not be an issue:

var deferredObject; // need to make sure that this deferred object variable will be accessible from inside nesting function

function myAsyncFunc() {
  // create a deferred object
  deferredObject = $q.defer();

  . . .

  nestedOne();

  // return the promise
  return deferredObject.promise;
}

function nestedOne() {
  nestedTwo();
}

function nestedTwo() {
  deferredObject.resolve();
}