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<h1 align="center"> |
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web-worker |
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<a href="https://www.npmjs.org/package/web-worker"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/web-worker.svg?style=flat-square" alt="npm"></a> |
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</h1> |
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<p align="center"> |
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Native cross-platform Web Workers. Works in published npm modules. |
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</p> |
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<p align="center"> |
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<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/105127/79602228-1998bf00-80b8-11ea-91e4-26b212aabaa2.png" width="1000" alt=""> |
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</p> |
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**In Node**, it's a web-compatible Worker implementation atop Node's [worker_threads](https://nodejs.org/api/worker_threads.html). |
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**In the browser** (and when bundled for the browser), it's simply an alias of `Worker`. |
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### Features |
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_Here's how this is different from worker_threads:_ |
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- makes Worker code compatible across browser and Node |
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- supports Module Workers (`{type:'module'}`) natively in Node 12.8+ |
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- uses DOM-style events (`Event.data`, `Event.type`, etc) |
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- supports event handler properties (`worker.onmessage=..`) |
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- `Worker()` accepts a module URL, Blob URL or Data URL |
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- emulates browser-style [WorkerGlobalScope] within the worker |
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### Usage Example |
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In its simplest form: |
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```js |
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import Worker from 'web-worker'; |
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const worker = new Worker('data:,postMessage("hello")'); |
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worker.onmessage = e => console.log(e.data); // "hello" |
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``` |
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<table> |
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<thead><tr><th><strong>main.js</strong></th><th><strong>worker.js</strong></th></tr></thead> |
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<tbody><tr><td> |
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```js |
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import Worker from 'web-worker'; |
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const url = new URL('./worker.js', import.meta.url); |
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const worker = new Worker(url); |
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worker.addEventListener('message', e => { |
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console.log(e.data) // "hiya!" |
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}); |
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worker.postMessage('hello'); |
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``` |
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</td><td valign="top"> |
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```js |
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addEventListener('message', e => { |
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if (e.data === 'hello') { |
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postMessage('hiya!'); |
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} |
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}); |
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``` |
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</td></tr></tbody> |
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</table> |
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๐ Notice how `new URL('./worker.js', import.meta.url)` is used above to load the worker relative to the current module instead of the application base URL. Without this, Worker URLs are relative to a document's URL, which in Node.js is interpreted to be `process.cwd()`. |
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> _Support for this pattern in build tools and test frameworks is still limited. We are [working on growing this](https://github.com/developit/web-worker/issues/4)._ |
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### Module Workers |
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Module Workers are supported in Node 12.8+ using this plugin, leveraging Node's native ES Modules support. |
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In the browser, they can be used natively in Chrome 80+, or in all browsers via [worker-plugin] or [rollup-plugin-off-main-thread]. As with classic workers, there is no difference in usage between Node and the browser: |
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<table> |
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<thead><tr><th><strong>main.mjs</strong></th><th><strong>worker.mjs</strong></th></tr></thead> |
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<tbody><tr><td> |
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```js |
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import Worker from 'web-worker'; |
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const worker = new Worker( |
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new URL('./worker.mjs', import.meta.url), |
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{ type: 'module' } |
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); |
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worker.addEventListener('message', e => { |
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console.log(e.data) // "200 OK" |
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}); |
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worker.postMessage('https://httpstat.us/200'); |
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``` |
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</td><td valign="top"> |
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```js |
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import fetch from 'isomorphic-fetch'; |
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addEventListener('message', async e => { |
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const url = e.data; |
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const res = await fetch(url) |
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const text = await res.text(); |
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postMessage(text); |
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}); |
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``` |
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</td></tr></tbody> |
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</table> |
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### Data URLs |
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Instantiating Worker using a Data URL is supported in both module and classic workers: |
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```js |
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import Worker from 'web-worker'; |
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const worker = new Worker(`data:application/javascript,postMessage(42)`); |
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worker.addEventListener('message', e => { |
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console.log(e.data) // 42 |
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}); |
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``` |
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### Special Thanks |
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This module aims to provide a simple and forgettable piece of infrastructure, |
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and as such it needed an obvious and descriptive name. |
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[@calvinmetcalf](https://github.com/calvinmetcalf), who you may recognize as the author of [Lie](https://github.com/calvinmetcalf/lie) and other fine modules, gratiously offered up the name from his `web-worker` package. |
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Thanks Calvin! |
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[worker-plugin]: https://github.com/googlechromelabs/worker-plugin |
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[rollup-plugin-off-main-thread]: https://github.com/surma/rollup-plugin-off-main-thread |
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[WorkerGlobalScope]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WorkerGlobalScope |
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