nestless

Nestless.js

Rewrites a flat synchronous-style JS variant into proper callback-y JS preserving line numbers.

Sample input:

function cat(encoding, cb) {
    filename <- askUser("Filename? ");
    contents <- fs.readFile(filename, encoding);

    if (contents.match(/piracy/))
        throw "TAKEN DOWN";

    return contents;
}

becomes:

function cat(encoding, cb) {
    askUser("Filename? ", function (err, filename) { if (err) return cb(err);
    fs.readFile(filename, encoding, function (err, contents) { if (err) return cb(err);

    if (contents.match(/piracy/))
        return cb("TAKEN DOWN");

    return cb(null, contents);
}); }); }

The transformation is opt-in per function. Every transformed function must take a last parameter called callback or cb and contain at least one <- binding.

After the first arrow binding, any return or throw in the same function (not in contained functions!) will be transformed to a callback invocation. See the test folder for more examples.

BONUS

Lets you use Pythonic """multi-line string literals""". However, it's currently hacked in with a preprocessor. Don't put """ in comments or normal string literals.

WARNING

• Nestless is very dumb and hacky and comes without warranty. It only handles a certain (common) case. Do not use nestless-generated code for anything important without examining the transformed output.
• Loops are right out. Use async.js or TameJS.
• Once you return a value, nestless tries to stop all execution in the function by possibly inserting more returns. Strange control flows may break this. I assume no responsibility if your callback never gets called or, worse, gets called multiple times.

Meta

Install with npm install -g nestless. This should put nestless in your npm bin.

Many thanks to Brendan Eich and Mozilla for Narcissus which parses the JavaScript and provides token boundaries for rewriting. Relevant bits of Narcissus have been patched and bundled with Nestless, and it assumes the same license.