dart await on constructor

Question

What pattern should I use in this example to load and process some data. As value returns a value, it's not acceptable to have d as a Future. How can I get the constructor to wait until load has completed before continuing?

void main() {
    var data = new Data(); // load data
    print(data.value()); // data.d is still null
}

class Data {
    String d;
    Data() {
        load();
    }

    Future<void> load() async {
        d = await fn(); // some expensive function (e.g. loading a database)
    }

    String value() {
        return d;
    }
}

Answer 1

You cannot make a constructor asynchronous. An asynchronous function needs to return a Future, and a constructor needs to return an instance of the class itself. Unless the class is a future, the constructor cannot be asynchronous (and even then, it's not really the same thing, and you can't use async/await).

So, if your class needs asynchronous set-up, you should provide the user with a static factory method instead of a constructor. I'd usually hide the constructor then.

class Data {
  String _d;
  Data._();
  static Future<Data> create() async {
    var data = Data._();
    await data._load();
    return data;
  }
  Future<void> _load() async {
    _d = await fn(); 
  }
  String get value => _d;
}

As an alternative design, I wouldn't even put the load method on the class, just do the operation in the static factory method:

class Data {
  String _d;
  Data._(this._d);
  static Future<Data> create() async => Data._(await fn());
  String get value => _d;
}

Obviously other constraints might require that load has access to the object.