Resonad

Lightweight, functional "result" objects that can be used instead of exceptions.

Read: Result Objects - Errors Without Exceptions

Typical Usage Example

Assuming each method returns a Resonad (Ruby 2.7 syntax):

find_widget(widget_id)
  .and_then { update_widget(_1) }
  .on_success { logger.info("Updated #{_1}" }
  .on_failure { logger.warn("Widget update failed because #{_1}") }

Success Type

A value that represents success. Wraps a value that can be any arbitrary object.

result = Resonad.Success(5)
result.success? #=> true
result.failure? #=> false
result.value #=> 5
result.error #=> raises an exception

Failure Type

A value that represents a failure. Wraps an error that can be any arbitrary object.

result = Resonad.Failure(:buzz)
result.success? #=> false
result.failure? #=> true
result.value #=> raises an exception
result.error #=> :buzz

Mapping

Non-destructive update for the value of a Success object. Does nothing to Failure objects.

The block takes the value as an argument, and returns the new value.

result = Resonad.Success(5)
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # 5 + 1 -> 6
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # 6 + 1 -> 7
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # 7 + 1 -> 8
result.success? #=> true
result.value #=> 8

result = Resonad.Failure(:buzz)
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # not run
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # not run
  .map { _1 + 1 }  # not run
result.success? #=> false
result.error #=> :buzz

Aliases

Lots of the Resonad methods have aliases.

Personally, I can never remember if it's success? or successful? or ok?, so let's just do it the Ruby way and allow all of them.

# >>> object creation aliases (same for failure) <<<
result = Resonad.Success(5)
result = Resonad.success(5)  # lowercase, for those offended by capital letters
result = Resonad::Success[5]  # class constructor method

# >>> success aliases <<<
result.success?  #=> true
result.successful?  #=> true
result.ok?  #=> true

# >>> failure aliases <<<
result.failure?  #=> false
result.failed?  #=> false
result.bad?  #=> false

# >>> mapping aliases <<<
result.map { _1 + 1 }  #=> Success(6)
result.map_value { _1 + 1 }  #=> Success(6)

# >>> flat mapping aliases <<<
result.and_then { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }  #=> Success(6)
result.flat_map { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }  #=> Success(6)

# >>> error flat mapping aliases <<<
result.or_else { Resonad.Failure(_1 + 1) }  # not run
result.otherwise { Resonad.Failure(_1 + 1) }  # not run
result.flat_map_error { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }  # not run

# >>> conditional tap aliases <<<
# pattern: (on_|if_|when_)(success_alias|failure_alias)
result.on_success { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.if_success { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.when_success { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.on_ok { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.if_ok { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.when_ok { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.on_successful { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.if_successful { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.when_successful { puts "hi" }  # outputs "hi"
result.on_failure { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.if_failure { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.when_failure { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.on_bad { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.if_bad { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.when_bad { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.on_failed { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.if_failed { puts "hi" }  # not run
result.when_failed { puts "hi" }  # not run

Flat Mapping (a.k.a. `and_then`)

Non-destructive update for a Success object. Either turns it into another Success (can have a different value), or turns it into a Failure. Does nothing to Failure objects.

The block takes the value as an argument, and returns a Resonad (either Success or Failure).

result = Resonad.Success(5)
  .and_then { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }  # updates to Success(6)
  .and_then { Resonad.Failure("buzz #{_1}") }  # updates to Failure("buzz 6")
  .and_then { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }  # not run (because it's a failure)
  .error #=> "buzz 6"

# also has a less-friendly but more-technically-descriptive alias: `flat_map`
result.flat_map { Resonad.Success(_1 + 1) }

This is different to Ruby's #then method added in 2.6. The block for #then would take a Resonad argument, regardless of whether it's Success or Failure. The block for #and_then takes a Success object's value, and only runs on Success objects, not Failure objects.

Error Mapping

Just as Success objects can be chained with #map and #and_then, so can Failure objects with #map_error and #or_else. This isn't used as often, but has a few use cases such as:

# Use Case: convert an error value into another error value
make_http_request  #=> Failure(404)
  .map_error { |status_code| "HTTP #{status_code} Error" }
  .error #=> "HTTP 404 Error"

# Use Case: recover from error, turning into Success
load_config_file  #=> Failure(:config_file_missing)
  .or_else { try_recover_from(_1) }
  .value  #=> { :setting => 'default' }

def try_recover_from(error)
  if error == :config_file_missing
    Resonad.Success({ setting: 'default' })
  else
    Resonad.Failure(error)
  end
end

Conditional Tap

If you're in the middle of a long chain of methods, and you don't want to break the chain to run some kind of side effect, you can use the #on_success and #on_failure methods. These run an arbitrary block code, but do not affect the result object in any way. They work like Ruby's #tap method, but Failure objects will not run on_success blocks, and Success objects will not run on_failure blocks.

do_step_1
  .and_then { do_step_2(_1) }
  .and_then { do_step_3(_1) }
  .on_success { puts "Successful step 3 result: #{_1}" }
  .and_then { do_step_4(_1) }
  .and_then { do_step_5(_1) }
  .on_failure { puts "Uh oh! Step 5 failed: #{_1} }
  .and_then { do_step_6(_1) }
  .and_then { do_step_7(_1) }

There are lots of aliases for these methods. See the "Aliases" section above.

Callable Object Arguments

Anywhere that you can use a block argument, you have the ability to provide a callable object instead.

For example, this block argument:

Resonad.Success(42).map{ |x| x * 2 }.value
#=> 84

Could also be given as an object that implements #call:

class Doubler
  def call(x)
    x * 2
  end
end

Resonad.Success(42).map(Doubler.new).value
#=> 84

Pattern Matching Support

If you are using Ruby 2.7 or later, you can pattern match on Resonad objects. For example:

case result
in { value: }  # match any Success
  puts value
in { error: :not_found } # match Failure(:not_found)
  puts "Thing not found"
in { error: String => msg } # match any Failure with a String error
  puts "Failed to fetch thing because #{msg}"
in { error: } # match any Failure
  raise "Unhandled error: #{error.inspect}"
end

Resonad.Success(5) deconstructs to:

Hash: { value: 5 }
Array: [:success, 5]

And Resonad.Failure('yikes') deconstructs to:

Hash: { error: 'yikes' }
Array: [:failure, 'yikes']

Automatic Exception Rescuing

If no exception is raised, wraps the block's return value in Success. If an exception is raised, wraps the exception object in Failure.

def try_divide(top, bottom)
  Resonad.rescuing_from(ZeroDivisionError) { top / bottom }
end

yep = try_divide(6, 2)
yep.success? #=> true
yep.value #=> 3

nope = try_divide(6, 0)
nope.success? #=> false
node.error #=> #<ZeroDivisionError: ZeroDivisionError>

Convenience Mixin

If you're tired of typing "Resonad." in front of everything, you can include the Resonad::Mixin mixin.

class RobotFortuneTeller
  include Resonad::Mixin

  def next_fortune
    case rand(0..100)
    when 0..70
      # title-case constructor from Resonad::Mixin
      Success("today is auspicious")
    when 71..95
      # lower-case constructor from Resonad::Mixin
      success("ill omens abound")
    else
      # direct access to classes from Resonad::Mixin
      Failure.new("MALFUNCTION")
    end
  end
end

Note that Resonad::Mixin provides private methods, and private constants, so you can't do this:

RobotFortuneTeller.new.Success(5)
  #=> NoMethodError: private method `Success' called for #<RobotFortuneTeller:0x00007fe7fc0ff0c8>

RobotFortuneTeller::Success
  #=> NameError: private constant Resonad::Mixin::Success referenced

If you want the methods/constants to be public, then use Resonad::PublicMixin instead.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at: https://github.com/tomdalling/resonad

I'm open to PRs that make the gem more convenient, or that makes calling code read better.

Make sure your PR has full test coverage.

resonad

Development