A Guide to Implementing Callbacks in JavaScript

Jude Tech
2 min readJan 9, 2024

--

Callbacks in JavaScript are functions that are passed as arguments to other functions and are executed after the completion of a particular task. Callbacks are commonly used in asynchronous operations like handling events, making HTTP requests, and more. In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through implementing callbacks in JavaScript.

1. Understanding Callbacks:

Firstly, let’s understand the basic structure of a callback. A callback is simply a function that gets passed as an argument to another function and gets executed at a later time.

function mainFunction(callback) {
// Some code here

// Call the callback function
callback();
}

function callbackFunction() {
console.log("Callback executed!");
}

// Pass the callback to the main function
mainFunction(callbackFunction);

2. Callbacks in Asynchronous Operations:

Callbacks are frequently used in asynchronous operations, like handling events or making HTTP requests. Let’s take an example of handling a button click event.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Callback Example</title>
</head>
<body>

<button id="myButton">Click me!</button>

<script>
function handleButtonClick(callback) {
// Simulate asynchronous operation (e.g., fetching data)
setTimeout(function() {
console.log("Button clicked!");

// Call the callback function
callback();
}, 1000);
}

function myCallback() {
console.log("Callback executed!");
}

// Attach the event listener with the callback
document.getElementById("myButton").addEventListener("click", function() {
handleButtonClick(myCallback);
});
</script>

</body>
</html>

3. Error Handling with Callbacks:

Callbacks can also be used to handle errors in asynchronous operations. Let’s modify the previous example to include error handling.

function handleButtonClick(callback, errorCallback) {
// Simulate asynchronous operation (e.g., fetching data)
setTimeout(function() {
const success = true; // Change this to simulate success or failure

if (success) {
console.log("Button clicked!");
callback();
} else {
console.error("Error occurred!");
errorCallback();
}
}, 1000);
}

function myCallback() {
console.log("Callback executed!");
}

function errorCallback() {
console.error("Callback execution failed!");
}

// Example usage with error handling callback
handleButtonClick(myCallback, errorCallback);

This example includes an errorCallback function that gets executed in case of an error during the asynchronous operation.

This is a basic overview of implementing callbacks in JavaScript. Callbacks are an essential concept in asynchronous programming and are widely used in various scenarios to handle events, errors, and other asynchronous tasks.

--

--

Jude Tech

IT professional || AWS Technology Architecting || Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Certified Associate||Cybersecurity for Businesses EC-Council || Technical Writer.