nodejs parallel callback design pattern

Question

I\'m trying to find a good pattern to execute a bunch of parallel tasks.

Let me define some task to exemplify. Tasks a, b, c, d, e, f, g execute as

Answer 1

What you actually want is a deferred pattern though like futures.

function defer(f) {
    // create a promise.
    var promise = Futures.promise();
    f(function(err, data) {
        if (err) {
            // break it
            promise.smash(err);
        } else {
            // fulfill it
            promise.fulfill(data);
        }
    });
    return promise;
}
var da = defer(a), db = defer(b), dc = defer(c), dd = defer(d), de = defer(e), df = defer(f), dg = defer(g);

// when a and b are fulfilled then call ab
// ab takes one parameter [ra, rb]
Futures.join(da, db).when(ab);
Futures.join(db, dc).when(bc);
// abc takes one parameter [ra, rb, rc]
Futures.join(da, db, dc).when(abc);
Futures.join(db, dd).when(bd);
Futures.join(db, dc, dd).when(bcd);
Futures.join(da, df).when(af);
// where's e ?
Futures.join(df,dg).when(fg);
Futures.join(da,db,dc,dd,de,df,dg).fail(function() {
    console.log(":(");
});