Buffers tasks - and forcess execution one by one #corutines #pipeline #deferred

buffer.js

/* Class: Buffer
 *  methods: append
 *
 *  Constructor: takes a function which will be the task handler to be called
 *
 *  .append appends a task to the buffer. Buffer will only call a task when the 
 *  previous task has finished
 */
var Buffer = function(handler) {
    var tasks = [];
    // empty resolved deferred object
    var deferred = $.when();

    // handle the next object
    function handleNextTask() {
        // if the current deferred task has resolved and there are more tasks
        if (deferred.isResolved() && tasks.length > 0) {
            // grab a task
            var task = tasks.shift();
            // set the deferred to be deferred returned from the handler
            deferred = handler(task);
            // if its not a deferred object then set it to be an empty deferred object
            if (!(deferred && deferred.promise)) {
                deferred = $.when();
            }
            // if we have tasks left then handle the next one when the current one 
            // is done.
            if (tasks.length > 0) {
                deferred.done(handleNextTask);
            }
        }
    }

    // appends a task.
    this.append = function(task) {
        // add to the array
        tasks.push(task);
        // handle the next task
        handleNextTask();
    };
};