asyncify

A simple PHP library that runs your synchronous PHP functions asynchronously.

Requirements

• PHP 7.2 or higher

Rationale

PHP is a largely synchronous (blocking) runtime. Asynchrony - achievable via ReactPHP and other similar suites - is a potent approach to mitigating the arduousness of I/O operations that feature prominently in day-to-day programming. Melding blocking and non-blocking routines in PHP can be a tricky proposition: when attempted haphazardly, it can yield unsightly outcomes.

The impetus for creating and maintaining asyncify is combining blocking and non-blocking PHP. Built atop ReactPHP, asyncify is a tool that allows one to run blocking PHP functions in an event-driven I/O environment.

Installation

Though it is possible to clone the repo, Composer remains the best tool for installing asyncify. To install the package via Composer, type the following in a console of your choosing.

$ composer require chemem/asyncify

Usage

If you want to take a Functional Programming approach, facilitated by currying, the example below should suffice.

use function Chemem\Asyncify\call;

$call = call('file_get_contents', ['foo.txt'])
  ->then(
    function (?string $contents) {
      echo $contents;
    },
    function (\Throwable $err) {
      echo $err->getMessage();
    }
  );

Or

If you prefer a more conventional OOP approach, the snippet below should prove apt.

use Chemem\Asyncify\Async;

$exec = Async::create()
  ->call('file_get_contents', ['foo.txt'])
  ->then(
    function (?string $contents) {
      echo $contents;
    },
    function (\Throwable $err) {
      echo $err->getMessage();
    }
  );

The examples directory contains more nuanced uses of the library that I recommend you check out.

Limitations

• asyncify is no panacea, but is capable of asynchronously executing a plethora of blocking calls. As presently constituted, the library is incapable of processing inputs and outputs that cannot be serialized. Its quintessential asynchronous function application primitive - call() - works almost exclusively with string encodings of native language functions and lambdas imported via an autoloading mechanism.

• The library cannot parse closures. All executable arbitrary code should be emplaced in a string whose sole constituent is an immediately invokable anonymous function the format of which is (function (...$args) { /* signature */ }).

API Reference

Object

namespace Chemem\Asyncify;

class Async {

  /* Methods */
  public static create( ?string $autoload = null [, ?React\EventLoop\LoopInterface $rootDir = null ] ) : Async;
  public function call( string $function [, array $args ] ) : React\Promise\PromiseInterface;
}

Async::__construct - Creates a new Async object instance

Async::call - Asynchronously calls a synchronous (blocking) PHP function

Function

namespace Chemem\Asyncify;

call ( string $func [, array $args [, ?string $autoload = null [, ?React\EventLoop\LoopInterface $args = null ] ] ] ) : React\Promise\PromiseInterface;

call - Curryied function that bootstraps asynchronous function calls

Note: asyncify utilizes the autoload file in the root directory of the project from which it is invoked.

Dealing with problems

Endeavor to create an issue on GitHub when the need arises or send an email to [email protected].

Contributing

Consider buying me a coffee if you appreciate the offerings of the project and/or would like to provide more impetus for me to continue working on it.