icon: IbDocument
First of all, I appreciate the effort and thought that has gone into the proposal for the ?=
operator. It's clear that the intention is to simplify and standardize error handling in JavaScript, which is an important goal.
However, I believe that this proposal might not be necessary given that we can achieve similar results using existing JavaScript features. Specifically, we can handle errors and return results in a concise and readable way by using simple wrapper functions. Here's an example of how this can be done:
const synco = (operation) => {
let result = null;
let error = null;
try {
result = operation();
} catch(err) {
error = err;
}
return [error, result];
};
const asynco = async (operation) => {
let result = null;
let error = null;
try {
result = await operation();
} catch(err) {
error = err;
}
return [error, result];
};
Moreover, if we use our imagination, we can extend these functions to return not just tuples, but also objects or any other robust structures that might suit the specific needs of a given application. This flexibility allows developers to tailor their error handling to the exact requirements of their projects, without being constrained to a single approach. For example, we could return an object with additional metadata, logs, or context about the error and the operation, providing a more comprehensive solution.
Sync example
// Operation to be executed synchronously
const parseJson = () => {
const data = JSON.parse('{"key": "value"}'); // Example of a potentially error-prone operation
return data.key;
};
// Execute the operation using synco
const [error, result] = synco(parseJson);
if (error) {
console.error('An error occurred:', error.message);
} else {
console.log('Result:', result); // Output: "Result: value"
}
Async example
// Operation to be executed asynchronously
const fetchData = async () => {
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
const data = await response.json();
return data.key;
};
// Execute the operation using asynco
const [error, result] = await asynco(fetchData);
if (error) {
console.error('An error occurred:', error.message);
} else {
console.log('Result:', result); // Output: the value of data.key if successful
}
Key Points:
Conclusion:
While the ?=
operator is an interesting idea, it's important to consider whether introducing a new operator is justified when we can already accomplish the same goals with existing language features. The above functions provide a simple, readable, and effective way to handle errors without adding complexity to the language.
I'd love to hear thoughts from the community on this approach and whether it might be a sufficient alternative to the proposed operator.
Thanks for considering my input!