Run async function every n seconds, wait if async function takes longer than n seconds

Question

I want an asynchronous function to run at a maximum rate of once a second.

async function update(){
    await wait_for_response();
}
setInterval(update, 1000);

In the above code, if the function takes longer than a second, the next update begins before the last has finished.

If update() takes longer than 1 second, I want the next update to wait until the last update is finished, running immediately afterwards.

Is there a simple built-in method or standard practice for implementing this?

Answer 1

I think that setTimeout would be a better choice in this case:

async function update() {
     const t1 = new Date();
     await wait_for_response();
     setTimeout(update, Math.max(0, 1000 - new Date + t1));
}
update();