2. Tutorials
  3. Overview of Promise-Based APIs in Node.js

Overview of Promise-Based APIs in Node.js

Node.js introduced async/await as a language feature in version 8.0.0. With async/await the development flow changed to use promises instead of callbacks. Since then, the Node.js team added promise-based APIs to Node’s core.

I’m continuously updating this overview of promise-based APIs in Node.js. New promise APIs in Node’s core will be added to the list.

last update: 3rd Nov 2021

Node.js Series Overview

  1. Increase the Memory Limit for Your Process
  2. Why You Should Add “node” in Your Travis Config
  3. Create a PDF from HTML with Puppeteer and Handlebars
  4. Create Your Own Custom Error
  5. Retrieve a Request’s IP Address in Node.js
  6. Detect the Node.js Version in a Running Process or App
  7. How to Base64 Encode/Decode a Value in Node.js
  8. Check if a Value Is Null or Undefined in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. How to Fix “Uncaught SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module”
  10. Fix „Socket Hang Up“ Errors
  11. Nested Destructuring in JavaScript or Node.js
  12. Cache Computation Results in a Local Variable
  13. ESM Bypass Cache for Dynamic Imports
  14. How to Fix ESM Error “Directory import is not supported resolving ES modules imported”
  1. String Replace All Appearances
  2. Remove All Whitespace From a String in JavaScript
  3. Generate a Random ID or String in Node.js or JavaScript
  4. Remove Extra Spaces From a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  5. Remove Numbers From a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  6. Get the Part Before a Character in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  7. Get the Part After a Character in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  8. How to Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. Check If a String Includes All Strings in JavaScript/Node.js/TypeScript
  10. Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript and Node.js
  11. Limit and Truncate a String to a Given Length in JavaScript and Node.js
  12. Split a String into a List of Characters in JavaScript and Node.js
  13. How to Generage a UUID in Node.js
  14. Reverse a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  15. Split a String into a List of Lines in JavaScript or Node.js
  16. Split a String into a List of Words in JavaScript or Node.js
  17. Detect if a String is in camelCase Format in Javascript or Node.js
  18. Check If a String Is in Lowercase in JavaScript or Node.js
  19. Check If a String is in Uppercase in JavaScript or Node.js
  20. Get the Part After First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  21. Get the Part Before First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  22. Get the Part Before Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  23. Get the Part After Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  24. How to Count Words in a File
  25. How to Shuffle the Characters of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  26. Append Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  27. Check if a String is Empty in JavaScript or Node.js
  28. Ensure a String Ends with a Given Character in JavaScript or Node.js
  29. Left-Trim Characters Off a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  30. Right-Trim Characters Off a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  31. Lowercase the First Character of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  32. Uppercase the First Character of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  33. Prepend Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  34. Check if a String is a Number
  35. Convert a String to Buffer
  36. Prevent Line Breaks in String Template Literals
  37. How to Implement a Custom `toString` Method (Coming soon)
  38. What Is `Symbol.toStringTag` and How to Use It (Coming soon)
  1. Filter Data in Streams
  1. Get Number of Seconds Since Epoch in JavaScript
  2. Get Tomorrow’s Date in JavaScript
  3. Increase a Date in JavaScript by One Week
  4. Add Seconds to a Date in Node.js and JavaScript
  5. Add Month(s) to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  6. Add Week(s) to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  7. Get the Current Year in JavaScript or Node.js
  8. How to Get a UNIX Timestamp in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. How to Convert a UNIX Timestamp to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  10. Add Days to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  11. Get Yesterday's Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  12. Add Minutes to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  13. Add Hours to a Date in JavaScript or Node.js
  14. Check If a Date Is Today in JavaScript or Node.js
  15. Check If a Date is Tomorrow in JavaScript or Node.js
  16. Check If a Date is Yesterday in JavaScript or Node.js
  17. How to Format a Date YYYY-MM-DD in JavaScript or Node.js
  18. Convert a Date to UTC in JavaScript or Node.js (Coming soon)
  19. Get Number of Days in a Month (Coming soon)
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  2. How to Reset and Empty an Array
  3. for…of vs. for…in Loops
  4. Clone/Copy an Array in JavaScript and Node.js
  5. Get an Array With Unique Values (Delete Duplicates)
  6. Sort an Array of Integers in JavaScript and Node.js
  7. Sort a Boolean Array in JavaScript, TypeScript, or Node.js
  8. Check If an Array Contains a Given Value in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. Add an Item to the Beginning of an Array in JavaScript or Node.js
  10. Append an Item at the End of an Array in JavaScript or Node.js
  11. How to Exit and Stop a for Loop in JavaScript and Node.js
  12. Split an Array Into Smaller Array Chunks in JavaScript and Node.js
  13. How to Get an Index in a for…of Loop in JavaScript and Node.js
  14. How to Exit, Stop, or Break an Array#forEach Loop in JavaScript or Node.js
  15. Retrieve a Random Item From an Array in JavaScript or Node.js
  16. How to Reverse an Array in JavaScript and Node.js
  17. Sort an Array of Strings in JavaScript, TypeScript or Node.js
  18. Sort an Array of Objects in JavaScript, TypeScript or Node.js
  19. Check If a Value Is an Array in JavaScript or Node.js
  20. Join an Array of Strings to a Single String Value
  21. Create and Fill an Array Containing N Items
  1. Human-Readable JSON.stringify() With Spaces and Line Breaks
  2. Write a JSON Object to a File
  3. Create a Custom “toJSON” Function in Node.js and JavaScript
  4. Securely Parse JSON
  5. How to JSON Stringify Errors
  1. Check If a Value Is Iterable in JavaScript or Node.js
  2. Check If a Value Is Async Iterable in JavaScript or Node.js
  3. What is `Symbol.iterator`?
  4. How to Implement an Iterator
  1. Extend Multiple Classes (Multi Inheritance)
  2. Retrieve the Class Name at Runtime in JavaScript and Node.js
  3. Deprecate a Method in JavaScript and TypeScript
  1. Generate a Random Number in Range With JavaScript/Node.js
  2. Ensure a Positive Number in JavaScript or Node.js
  3. Check if a Number Is Infinity
  4. Check If a Number has Decimal Places in JavaScript or Node.js
  5. Use Numeric Separators for Better Readability
  6. Convert Boolean to Number
  7. Convert Number to Boolean
  8. Check if a Value is a Number
  1. How to Merge Objects
  2. How to Check if an Object is Empty in JavaScript or Node.js
  3. How to CamelCase Keys of an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  4. How to Snake_Case Keys of an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  5. How to Destructure a Dynamic Key in JavaScript or Node.js
  6. How to Get All Keys (Including Symbols) from an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  7. How to Delete a Key From an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  8. Iterate Through an Object’s Keys and Values in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. How to Convert URLSearchParams to Object
  10. Check If a Value Is an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  11. Conditionally Add Properties to an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  12. How to Lowercase Keys of an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
  13. Unset an Object Property
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  2. Get a File’s Last Modified or Updated Date of a File
  3. How to Create an Empty File
  4. Check If a Path or File Exists
  5. How to Rename a File
  6. Check If a Path Is a Directory
  7. Check If a Path Is a File
  8. Retrieve the Path to the User’s Home Directory
  9. How to Touch a File
  10. Read File Content as String
  11. Check If a Directory Is Empty
  12. How to Create a Directory (and Parents If Needed)
  13. Get a File‘s Extension
  14. Get the Size of a File
  15. Get a File Name (With or Without Extension)
  16. Read a JSON File
  17. Delete a File From Disk
  18. Check if a Path is a SymLink (Symbolic Link)
  19. Check if a Path is a Socket
  20. Check if a Path is a FIFO File (Named Pipe)
  21. Check if a Path is a File URL
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  23. What is `Fs.realpath`?
  1. Create From Object
  2. Transform to an Object
  1. Determine the Node.js Version Running Your Script
  2. Show Your NODE_MODULE_VERSION
  1. Check if a Value is a Symbol in JavaScript or Node.js
  1. Detect if Running on Linux
  2. Detect if Running on macOS
  3. Detect if Running on Windows
  4. Check if Running on 64bit or 32bit Platform
  5. Constant for Platform-Specific Newline
  6. Determine the Current Operating System
  7. Retrieve the OS Directory for Temporary Files
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  2. Strict Type for Request Headers with TypeScript
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  2. Retrieve the List of Supported Hash Algorithms
  3. Calculate a SHA256 Hash
  4. Calculate a SHA512 Hash
  1. Using the Styletext Utility for Terminal Text Formatting

Promise-APIs in Node.js

The Allrounder: util.promisify

When talking about promise APIs in Node.js we also need to mention util.promisify. The util.promisify function is available since Node.js v8.0.0 and creates an async function from a callback-based version.

util.promisify takes an error-first callback function (error, value) => {} as an argument and returns a function returning a promise:

import Fs from 'fs'  
import { promisify } from 'util'

const stat = promisify(Fs.stat)

try {  
  const stats = await stat(path)
  // do something with `stats`
} catch (error) {
  // handle the `error`
}

History

  • Added in Node.js v8.0.0

fs/promises

The fs/promise module in the Node.js core provides a comprehensive list of methods. Please find all promise-supporting methods of fs/promises in the table of contents of the Node.js docs. Here’s an example of how you can read a file using the promise-based readFile method:

import FS from 'fs/promise'  
// or use destructured imports
import { readFile } from 'fs/promises'

await FS.readFile(path)  
// or
await readFile(path)

History

  • Node.js v14.0.0: also available as require('fs/promises')
  • Node.js v10.0.0: exposed as require('fs').promises

Alternatives

  • @supercharge/fs: an extended and async fs package providing a lot of convenience methods when interacting with the local file system

stream/promises

The stream/promises module provides two promise-supporting methods:
- finished: waits for a stream to finish reading, writing or an error occurs - pipeline: a method piping data between streams and also forwarding errors. It also cleans up properly (closing all streams) and throws any occurring error.

Here’s an example using both methods:

import Fs from 'fs'  
import Zlib from 'zlib'  
import { finished, pipeline } from 'stream/promises'

await pipeline(  
  Fs.createReadStream('archive.tar'),
  Zlib.createGzip(),
  Fs.createWriteStream('archive.tar.gz')
)

const rs = Fs.createReadStream('archive.tar')  
await finished(rs.resume())

History

  • stream/promises was added in Node.js v15.0.0
  • v10.0.0: added pipeline and finished methods with callback support

timers/promises

The timers/promises was added in Node.js v15.0.0 as an experimental API. It graduated from experimental in Node.js v16.0.0. There are currently three promise-supporting methods available:
- setTimeout - setInterval - setImmediate

Here’s an example how to use the promise-based timers methods:

import {  
  setTimeout as delay,
  setInterval,
  setImmediate,
} from 'timers/promises'

await delay(500)

const res = await setImmediate('result')  
// 'result'

const interval = 100  
for await (const startTime of setInterval(interval, Date.now())) {  
  const now = Date.now()
  console.log(now)
  if ((now - startTime) > 1000)
    break
}

History

  • Node.js v16.0.0: graduated from experimental
  • timers/promises was added in Node.js v15.0.0

dns/promises

The promise-based APIs of the dns module was added in Node.js v10.6.0 and exposed via dns/promises in Node.js v15.0.0. The promise-based API of dns/promises has feature parity with the callback-based version of dns.

Please find all promise-supporting methods of dns/promises in the table of contents of the Node.js docs.

Here’s an example on how to use the promise-based DNS module:

const { Resolver } = require('dns/promises')

const resolver = new Resolver()  
resolver.setServers(['4.4.4.4'])

const addresses = await resolver.resolve4('example.org')

History

  • Node.js v15.0.0: also available as require('dns/promises')
  • Node.js v10.6.0: added promise-based APIs exposed as require('dns').promises

Mentioned Resources

Marcus Pöhls

Marcus is a fullstack JS developer. He’s passionate about the hapi framework for Node.js and loves to build web apps and APIs. Creator of Futureflix and the “learn hapi” learning path.

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