title: Promise.try()
short-title: try()
slug: Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise/try
page-type: javascript-static-method
browser-compat: javascript.builtins.Promise.try
sidebar: jsref
The Promise.try() static method takes a callback of any kind (returns or throws, synchronously or asynchronously) and wraps its result in a {{jsxref("Promise")}}.
Syntax
Promise.try(func)
Promise.try(func, arg1)
Promise.try(func, arg1, arg2)
Promise.try(func, arg1, arg2, /* …, */ argN)
Parameters
func- : A function that is called synchronously with the arguments provided (
arg1,arg2, …,argN). It can do anything—either return a value, throw an error, or return a promise.
- : A function that is called synchronously with the arguments provided (
arg1,arg2, …,argN- : Arguments to pass to
func.
- : Arguments to pass to
Return value
A {{jsxref("Promise")}} that is:
- Already fulfilled, if
funcsynchronously returns a value. - Already rejected, if
funcsynchronously throws an error. - Asynchronously fulfilled or rejected, if
funcreturns a promise.
Description
You may have an API that takes a callback. The callback may be synchronous or asynchronous. You want to handle everything uniformly by wrapping the result in a promise. The most straightforward way might be {{jsxref("Promise/resolve", "Promise.resolve(func())")}}. The problem is that if func() synchronously throws an error, this error would not be caught and turned into a rejected promise.
The common approach (lifting a function call result into a promise, fulfilled or rejected) often looks like this:
new Promise((resolve) => resolve(func()));
But Promise.try() is more helpful here:
Promise.try(func);
For the built-in Promise() constructor, errors thrown from the executor are automatically caught and turned into rejections, so these two approaches are mostly equivalent, except that Promise.try() is more concise and readable.
Note that Promise.try() is not equivalent to this, despite being highly similar:
Promise.resolve().then(func);
The difference is that the callback passed to {{jsxref("Promise/then", "then()")}} is always called asynchronously, while the executor of the Promise() constructor is called synchronously. Promise.try also calls the function synchronously, and resolves the promise immediately if possible.
Promise.try(), combined with {{jsxref("Promise/catch", "catch()")}} and {{jsxref("Promise/finally", "finally()")}}, can be used to handle both synchronous and asynchronous errors in a single chain, and make promise error handling appear almost like synchronous error handling.
Like {{domxref("Window/setTimeout", "setTimeout()")}}, Promise.try() accepts extra arguments that are passed to the callback. This means instead of doing this:
Promise.try(() => func(arg1, arg2));
You can do this:
Promise.try(func, arg1, arg2);
Which are equivalent, but the latter avoids creating an extra closure and is more efficient.
Examples
Using Promise.try()
The following example takes a callback, "lifts" it into a promise, handles the result, and does some error handling:
function doSomething(action) {
return Promise.try(action)
.then((result) => console.log(result))
.catch((error) => console.error(error))
.finally(() => console.log("Done"));
}
doSomething(() => "Sync result");
doSomething(() => {
throw new Error("Sync error");
});
doSomething(async () => "Async result");
doSomething(async () => {
throw new Error("Async error");
});
In async/await, the same code would look like this:
async function doSomething(action) {
try {
const result = await action();
console.log(result);
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
} finally {
console.log("Done");
}
}
Calling try() on a non-Promise constructor
Promise.try() is a generic method. It can be called on any constructor that implements the same signature as the Promise() constructor.
The following is a slightly more faithful approximation of the actual Promise.try() (although it should still not be used as a polyfill):
Promise.try = function (func) {
return new this((resolve, reject) => {
try {
resolve(func());
} catch (error) {
reject(error);
}
});
};
Because of how Promise.try() is implemented (i.e., the try...catch), we can safely invoke Promise.try() with its this set to any custom constructor, and it will never synchronously throw an error.
class NotPromise {
constructor(executor) {
// The "resolve" and "reject" functions behave nothing like the native
// promise's, but Promise.try() just calls resolve
executor(
(value) => console.log("Resolved", value),
(reason) => console.log("Rejected", reason),
);
}
}
const p = Promise.try.call(NotPromise, () => "hello");
// Logs: Resolved hello
const p2 = Promise.try.call(NotPromise, () => {
throw new Error("oops");
});
// Logs: Rejected Error: oops
Unlike Promise(), this NotPromise() constructor does not gracefully handle exceptions while running the executor. But despite the throw, Promise.try() still catches the exception, passing it to reject() to log out.
Specifications
{{Specifications}}
Browser compatibility
{{Compat}}
See also
- Polyfill of
Promise.tryincore-js - es-shims polyfill of
Promise.try - Using promises guide
- {{jsxref("Promise")}}
Promise()constructor