functional-ruby 0.5.0 → 0.6.0

data/md/concurrency.md

@@ -0,0 +1,465 @@
+# Go, Clojure, and JavaScript-inspired Concurrency
+
+The old-school "lock and synchronize" approach to concurrency is dead. The future of concurrency
+is asynchronous. Send out a bunch of independent [actors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model)
+to do your bidding and process the results when you are ready. Although the idea of the concurrent
+actor originated in the early 1970's it has only recently started catching on. Although there is
+no one "true" actor implementation (what *exactly* is "object oriented," what *exactly* is
+"functional programming"), many modern programming languages implement variations on the actor
+theme. This library implements a few of the most interesting and useful of those variations.
+
+Remember, *there is not silver bullet in concurrent programming.* Concurrency is hard. Very hard.
+These tools will help ease the burden, but at the end of the day it is essential that you
+*know what you are doing.*
+
+## Agent
+
+Agents are inspired by [Clojure's](http://clojure.org/) [agent](http://clojure.org/agents) keyword.
+An agent is a single atomic value that represents an identity. The current value
+of the agent can be requested at any time (`deref`). Each agent has a work queue and operates on
+the global thread pool (see below). Consumers can `post` code blocks to the
+agent. The code block (function) will receive the current value of the agent as its sole
+parameter. The return value of the block will become the new value of the agent. Agents support
+two error handling modes: fail and continue. A good example of an agent is a shared incrementing
+counter, such as the score in a video game.
+
+An agent must be initialize with an initial value. This value is always accessible via the `value`
+(or `deref`) methods. Code blocks sent to the agent will be processed in the order received. As
+each block is processed the current value is updated with the result from the block. This update
+is an atomic operation so a `deref` will never block and will always return the current value.
+
+When an agent is created it may be given an optional `validate` block and zero or more `rescue`
+blocks. When a new value is calculated the value will be checked against the validator, if present.
+If the validator returns `true` the new value will be accepted. If it returns `false` it will be
+rejected. If a block raises an exception during execution the list of `rescue` blocks will be
+seacrhed in order until one matching the current exception is found. That `rescue` block will
+then be called an passed the exception object. If no matching `rescue` block is found, or none
+were configured, then the exception will be suppressed.
+
+### Examples
+
+A simple example:
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/agent'
+# or
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+score = Functional::Agent.new(10)
+score.value #=> 10
+
+score << proc{|current| current + 100 }
+sleep(0.1)
+score.value #=> 110
+
+score << proc{|current| current * 2 }
+sleep(0.1)
+deref score #=> 220
+
+score << proc{|current| current - 50 }
+sleep(0.1)
+score.value #=> 170
+```
+
+With validation and error handling:
+
+```ruby
+score = agent(0).validate{|value| value <= 1024 }.
+          rescue(NoMethodError){|ex| puts "Bam!" }.
+          rescue(ArgumentError){|ex| puts "Pow!" }.
+          rescue{|ex| puts "Boom!" }
+score.value #=> 0
+
+score << proc{|current| current + 2048 }
+sleep(0.1)
+score.value #=> 0
+
+score << proc{|current| raise ArgumentError }
+sleep(0.1)
+#=> puts "Pow!"
+score.value #=> 0
+
+score << proc{|current| current + 100 }
+sleep(0.1)
+score.value #=> 100
+```
+
+## Future
+
+Futures are inspired by [Clojure's](http://clojure.org/) [future](http://clojuredocs.org/clojure_core/clojure.core/future) keyword.
+A future represents a promise to complete an action at some time in the future. The action is atomic and permanent.
+The idea behind a future is to send an action off for asynchronous operation, do other stuff, then return and
+retrieve the result of the async operation at a later time. Futures run on the global thread pool (see below).
+
+Futures have three possible states: *pending*, *rejected*, and *fulfilled*. When a future is created it is set
+to *pending* and will remain in that state until processing is complete. A completed future is either *rejected*,
+indicating that an exception was thrown during processing, or *fulfilled*, indicating succedd. If a future is
+*fulfilled* its `value` will be updated to reflect the result of the operation. If *rejected* the `reason` will
+be updated with a reference to the thrown exception. The predicate methods `pending?`, `rejected`, and `fulfilled?`
+can be called at any time to obtain the state of the future, as can the `state` method, which returns a symbol.
+
+Retrieving the value of a future is done through the `value` (alias: `deref`) method. Obtaining the value of
+a future is a potentially blocking operation. When a future is *rejected* a call to `value` will return `nil`
+immediately. When a future is *fulfilled* a call to `value` will immediately return the current value.
+When a future is *pending* a call to `value` will block until the future is either *rejected* or *fulfilled*.
+A *timeout* value can be passed to `value` to limit how long the call will block. If `nil` the call will
+block indefinitely. If `0` the call will not block. Any other integer or float value will indicate the
+maximum number of seconds to block.
+
+### Examples
+
+A fulfilled example:
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/future'
+# or
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+count = Functional::Future{ sleep(10); 10 }
+count.state #=> :pending
+count.pending? #=> true
+
+# do stuff...
+
+count.value(0) #=> nil (does not block)
+
+count.value #=> 10 (after blocking)
+count.state #=> :fulfilled
+count.fulfilled? #=> true
+deref count #=> 10
+```
+
+A rejected example:
+
+```ruby
+count = future{ sleep(10); raise StandardError.new("Boom!") }
+count.state #=> :pending
+pending?(count) #=> true
+
+deref(count) #=> nil (after blocking)
+rejected?(count) #=> true
+count.reason #=> #<StandardError: Boom!> 
+```
+
+## Promise
+
+A promise is the most powerfule and versatile of the concurrency objects in this library.
+Promises are inspired by the JavaScript [Promises/A](http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Promises/A)
+and [Promises/A+](http://promises-aplus.github.io/promises-spec/) specifications.
+
+> A promise represents the eventual value returned from the single completion of an operation.
+
+Promises are similar to futures and share many of the same behaviours. Promises are far more robust,
+however. Promises can be chained in a tree structure where each promise may have zero or more children.
+Promises are chained using the `then` method. The result of a call to `then` is always another promise.
+Promises are resolved asynchronously in the order they are added to the tree. Parents are guaranteed
+to be resolved before their children. The result of each promise is passed to each of its children
+upon resolution. When a promise is rejected all its children will be summarily rejected.
+
+Promises have three possible states: *pending*, *rejected*, and *fulfilled*. When a promise is created it is set
+to *pending* and will remain in that state until processing is complete. A completed promise is either *rejected*,
+indicating that an exception was thrown during processing, or *fulfilled*, indicating succedd. If a promise is
+*fulfilled* its `value` will be updated to reflect the result of the operation. If *rejected* the `reason` will
+be updated with a reference to the thrown exception. The predicate methods `pending?`, `rejected`, and `fulfilled?`
+can be called at any time to obtain the state of the promise, as can the `state` method, which returns a symbol.
+
+Retrieving the value of a promise is done through the `value` (alias: `deref`) method. Obtaining the value of
+a promise is a potentially blocking operation. When a promise is *rejected* a call to `value` will return `nil`
+immediately. When a promise is *fulfilled* a call to `value` will immediately return the current value.
+When a promise is *pending* a call to `value` will block until the promise is either *rejected* or *fulfilled*.
+A *timeout* value can be passed to `value` to limit how long the call will block. If `nil` the call will
+block indefinitely. If `0` the call will not block. Any other integer or float value will indicate the
+maximum number of seconds to block.
+
+### Examples
+
+A simple example:
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/promise'
+# or
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+p = Functional::Promise.new{ sleep(1); "Hello world!" }
+p.value(0) #=> nil (does not block)
+p.value #=> "Hello world!" (after blocking)
+p.state #=> :fulfilled
+```
+
+An example with chaining:
+
+```ruby
+p = promise("Jerry", "D'Antonio"){|a, b| "#{a} #{b}" }.
+    then{|result| sleep(1); result}.
+    then{|result| "Hello #{result}." }.
+    then{|result| "#{result} Would you like to play a game?"}
+
+p.pending? #=> true
+p.value(0) #=> nil (does not block)
+
+p.value #=> "Hello Jerry D'Antonio. Would you like to play a game?"
+```
+
+An example with error handling:
+
+```ruby
+@expected = nil
+p = promise{ raise ArgumentError }.
+  rescue(LoadError){|ex| @expected = 1 }.
+  rescue(ArgumentError){|ex| @expected = 2 }.
+  rescue(Exception){|ex| @expected = 3 }
+
+sleep(0.1)
+
+@expected     #=> 2
+pending?(p)   #=> false
+fulfilled?(p) #=> false
+rejected?(p)  #=> true
+
+deref(p)      #=> nil
+p.reason      #=> #<ArgumentError: ArgumentError>
+```
+
+A complex example with chaining and error handling:
+
+```ruby
+p = promise("Jerry", "D'Antonio"){|a, b| "#{a} #{b}" }.
+    then{|result| sleep(0.5); result}.
+    rescue(ArgumentError){|ex| puts "Pow!" }.
+    then{|result| "Hello #{result}." }.
+    rescue(NoMethodError){|ex| puts "Bam!" }.
+    rescue(ArgumentError){|ex| puts "Zap!" }.
+    then{|result| raise StandardError.new("Boom!") }.
+    rescue{|ex| puts ex.message }.
+    then{|result| "#{result} Would you like to play a game?"}
+
+sleep(1)
+
+p.value  #=> nil
+p.state  #=> :rejected
+p.reason #=> #<StandardError: Boom!>
+```
+
+## Goroutine
+
+A goroutine is the simplest of the concurrency utilities in this library. It is inspired by
+[Go's](http://golang.org/) [goroutines](https://gobyexample.com/goroutines) and
+[Erlang's](http://www.erlang.org/) [spawn](http://erlangexamples.com/tag/spawn/) keyword. The
+`go` function is nothing more than a simple way to send a block to the global thread pool (see below)
+for processing.
+
+### Examples
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+@expected = nil
+
+go(1, 2, 3){|a, b, c| sleep(1); @expected = [c, b, a] }
+
+sleep(0.1)
+@expected #=> nil
+
+sleep(2)
+@expected #=> [3, 2, 1]
+```
+
+## Thread Pools
+
+Thread pools are neither a new idea nor an implementation of the actor patter. Nevertheless, thread
+pools are still an extremely relevant concurrency tool. Every time a thread is created then
+subsequently destroyed there is overhead. Creating a pool of reusable worker threads then repeatedly'
+dipping into the pool can have huge performace benefits for a long-running application like a service.
+Ruby's blocks provide an excellent mechanism for passing a generic work request to a thread, making
+Ruby an excellent candidate language for thread pools.
+
+The inspiration for thread pools in this library is Java's `java.util.concurrent` implementation of
+[thread pools](java.util.concurrent). The `java.util.concurrent` library is a well-designed, stable,
+scalable, and battle-tested concurrency library. It provides three different implementations of thread
+pools. One of those implementations is simply a special case of the first and doesn't offer much
+advantage in Ruby, so only the first two (`FixedThreadPool` and `CachedThreadPool`) are implemented here.
+
+Thread pools share common `behavior` defined by `:thread_pool`. The most imortant method is `post`
+(aliased with the left-shift operator `<<`). The `post` method sends a block to the pool for future
+processing.
+
+A running thread pool can be shutdown in an orderly or disruptive manner. Once a thread pool has been
+shutdown in cannot be started again. The `shutdown` method can be used to initiate an orderly shutdown
+of the thread pool. All new `post` calls will reject the given block and immediately return `false`.
+Threads in the pool will continue to process all in-progress work and will process all tasks still in
+the queue. The `kill` method can be used to immediately shutdown the pool. All new `post` calls will
+reject the given block and immediately return `false`. Ruby's `Thread.kill` will be called on all threads
+in the pool, aborting all in-progress work. Tasks in the queue will be discarded.
+
+A client thread can choose to block and wait for pool shutdown to complete. This is useful when shutting
+down an application and ensuring the app doesn't exit before pool processing is complete. The method
+`wait_for_termination` will block for a maximum of the given number of seconds then return `true` if
+shutdown completed successfully or `false`. When the timeout value is `nil` the call will block
+indefinitely. Calling `wait_for_termination` on a stopped thread pool will immediately return `true`.
+
+Predicate methods are provided to describe the current state of the thread pool. Provided methods are
+`running?`, `shutdown?`, and `killed?`. The `shutdown` method will return true regardless of whether
+the pool was shutdown wil `shutdown` or `kill`.
+
+### FixedThreadPool
+
+From the docs:
+
+> Creates a thread pool that reuses a fixed number of threads operating off a shared unbounded queue.
+> At any point, at most `nThreads` threads will be active processing tasks. If additional tasks are submitted
+> when all threads are active, they will wait in the queue until a thread is available. If any thread terminates
+> due to a failure during execution prior to shutdown, a new one will take its place if needed to execute
+> subsequent tasks. The threads in the pool will exist until it is explicitly `shutdown`.
+
+#### Examples
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/fixed_thread_pool'
+# or
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+pool = Functional::FixedThreadPool.new(5)
+
+pool.size     #=> 5
+pool.running? #=> true
+pool.status   #=> ["sleep", "sleep", "sleep", "sleep", "sleep"]
+
+pool.post(1,2,3){|*args| sleep(10) }
+pool << proc{ sleep(10) }
+pool.size     #=> 5
+
+sleep(11)
+pool.status   #=> ["sleep", "sleep", "sleep", "sleep", "sleep"]
+
+pool.shutdown #=> :shuttingdown
+pool.status   #=> []
+pool.wait_for_termination
+
+pool.size      #=> 0
+pool.status    #=> []
+pool.shutdown? #=> true
+```
+
+### CachedThreadPool
+
+From the docs:
+
+> Creates a thread pool that creates new threads as needed, but will reuse previously constructed threads when
+> they are available. These pools will typically improve the performance of programs that execute many short-lived
+> asynchronous tasks. Calls to [`post`] will reuse previously constructed threads if available. If no existing
+> thread is available, a new thread will be created and added to the pool. Threads that have not been used for
+> sixty seconds are terminated and removed from the cache. Thus, a pool that remains idle for long enough will
+> not consume any resources. Note that pools with similar properties but different details (for example,
+> timeout parameters) may be created using [`CachedThreadPool`] constructors.
+
+#### Examples
+
+```ruby
+require 'functional/cached_thread_pool'
+# or
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+pool = Functional::CachedThreadPool.new
+
+pool.size     #=> 0
+pool.running? #=> true
+pool.status   #=> []
+
+pool.post(1,2,3){|*args| sleep(10) }
+pool << proc{ sleep(10) }
+pool.size     #=> 2
+pool.status   #=> [[:working, nil, "sleep"], [:working, nil, "sleep"]]
+
+sleep(11)
+pool.status   #=> [[:idle, 23, "sleep"], [:idle, 23, "sleep"]]
+
+sleep(60)
+pool.size     #=> 0
+pool.status   #=> []
+
+pool.shutdown #=> :shuttingdown
+pool.status   #=> []
+pool.wait_for_termination
+
+pool.size      #=> 0
+pool.status    #=> []
+pool.shutdown? #=> true
+```
+
+## Global Thread Pool
+
+For efficiency, of the aforementioned concurrency methods (agents, futures, promises, and
+goroutines) run against a global thread pool. This pool can be directly accessed through the
+`$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL` global variable. Generally, this pool should not be directly accessed.
+Use the other concurrency features instead.
+
+By default the global thread pool is a `CachedThreadPool`. This means it consumes no resources
+unless concurrency functions are called. Most of the time this pool can simply be left alone.
+
+### Changing the Global Thread Pool
+
+It is possible to change the global thread pool. Simply assign a new pool to the `$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL`
+variable:
+
+```ruby
+$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL = Functional::FixedThreadPool.new(10)
+```
+
+Ideally this should be done at application startup, before any concurrency functions are called.
+If the circumstances warrant the global thread pool can be changed at runtime. Just make sure to
+shutdown the old global thread pool so that no tasks are lost:
+
+```ruby
+$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL = Functional::FixedThreadPool.new(10)
+
+# do stuff...
+
+old_global_pool = $GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL
+$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL = Functional::FixedThreadPool.new(10)
+old_global_pool.shutdown
+```
+
+### EventMachine
+
+The [EventMachine](http://rubyeventmachine.com/) library (source [online](https://github.com/eventmachine/eventmachine))
+is an awesome library for creating evented applications. EventMachine provides its own thread pool
+and the authors recommend using their pool rather than using Ruby's `Thread`. No sweat,
+`functional-ruby` is fully compatible with EventMachine. Simple require `eventmachine`
+*before* requiring `functional-ruby` then replace the global thread pool with an instance
+of `EventMachineDeferProxy`:
+
+```ruby
+require 'eventmachine' # do this FIRST
+require 'functional/concurrency'
+
+$GLOBAL_THREAD_POOL = EventMachineDeferProxy.new
+```
+
+## Copyright
+
+*Functional Ruby* is Copyright &copy; 2013 [Jerry D'Antonio](https://twitter.com/jerrydantonio).
+It is free software and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.
+
+## License
+
+Released under the MIT license.
+
+http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php  
+
+> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy  
+> of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal  
+> in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights  
+> to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell  
+> copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is  
+> furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:  
+> 
+> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in  
+> all copies or substantial portions of the Software.  
+> 
+> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR  
+> IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,  
+> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE  
+> AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER  
+> LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,  
+> OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN  
+> THE SOFTWARE.  

data/md/future.md

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# We're sending you back to the future!
+
+TBD...
+
+## Copyright
+
+*Functional Ruby* is Copyright © 2013 [Jerry D'Antonio](https://twitter.com/jerrydantonio).
+It is free software and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.
+
+## License
+
+Released under the MIT license.
+
+http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php  
+
+> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy  
+> of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal  
+> in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights  
+> to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell  
+> copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is  
+> furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:  
+> 
+> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in  
+> all copies or substantial portions of the Software.  
+> 
+> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR  
+> IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,  
+> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE  
+> AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER  
+> LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,  
+> OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN  
+> THE SOFTWARE.  

data/md/obligation.md

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Obligation
+
+TBD...
+
+## Copyright
+
+*Functional Ruby* is Copyright © 2013 [Jerry D'Antonio](https://twitter.com/jerrydantonio).
+It is free software and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.
+
+## License
+
+Released under the MIT license.
+
+http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php  
+
+> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy  
+> of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal  
+> in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights  
+> to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell  
+> copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is  
+> furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:  
+> 
+> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in  
+> all copies or substantial portions of the Software.  
+> 
+> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR  
+> IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,  
+> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE  
+> AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER  
+> LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,  
+> OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN  
+> THE SOFTWARE.