Scala Language Continuations Library Callbacks are Continutations
Example
// Takes a callback and executes it with the read value
def readFile(path: String)(callback: Try[String] => Unit): Unit = ???
readFile(path) { _.flatMap { file1 =>
readFile(path2) { _.foreach { file2 =>
processFiles(file1, file2)
}}
}}
The function argument to readFile is a continuation, in that readFile invokes it to continue program execution after it has done its job.
In order to rein in what can easily become callback hell, we use the continuations library.
reset { // Reset is a delimiter for continuations.
for { // Since the callback hell is relegated to continuation library machinery.
// a for-comprehension can be used
file1 <- shift(readFile(path1)) // shift has type (((A => B) => C) => A)
// We use it as (((Try[String] => Unit) => Unit) => Try[String])
// It takes all the code that occurs after it is called, up to the end of reset, and
// makes it into a closure of type (A => B).
// The reason this works is that shift is actually faking its return type.
// It only pretends to return A.
// It actually passes that closure into its function parameter (readFile(path1) here),
// And that function calls what it thinks is a normal callback with an A.
// And through compiler magic shift "injects" that A into its own callsite.
// So if readFile calls its callback with parameter Success("OK"),
// the shift is replaced with that value and the code is executed until the end of reset,
// and the return value of that is what the callback in readFile returns.
// If readFile called its callback twice, then the shift would run this code twice too.
// Since readFile returns Unit though, the type of the entire reset expression is Unit
//
// Think of shift as shifting all the code after it into a closure,
// and reset as resetting all those shifts and ending the closures.
file2 <- shift(readFile(path2))
} processFiles(file1, file2)
}
// After compilation, shift and reset are transformed back into closures
// The for comprehension first desugars to:
reset {
shift(readFile(path1)).flatMap { file1 => shift(readFile(path2)).foreach { file2 => processFiles(file1, file2) } }
}
// And then the callbacks are restored via CPS transformation
readFile(path1) { _.flatMap { file1 => // We see how shift moves the code after it into a closure
readFile(path2) { _.foreach { file2 =>
processFiles(file1, file2)
}}
}} // And we see how reset closes all those closures
// And it looks just like the old version!
