How to explain callbacks in plain english? How are

Question

How to explain callbacks in plain English? How are they different from calling one function from another function taking some context from the calling function? How can their power be explained to a novice programmer?

Answer 1

Think of a method as giving a task to a coworker. A simple task might be the following:

Solve these equations:
x + 2 = y
2 * x = 3 * y

Your coworker diligently does the math and gives you the following result:

x = -6
y = -4

But your coworker has a problem, he doesn't always understand notations, such as ^, but he does understand them by their description. Such as exponent. Everytime he finds one of these you get back the following:

I don't understand "^"

This requires you to rewrite your entire instruction set again after explaining what the character means to your coworker, and he doesn't always remember in between questions. And he has difficulty remembering your tips as well, such as just ask me. He always follows your written directions as best he can however.

You think of a solution, you just add the following to all of your instructions:

If you have any questions about symbols, call me at extension 1234 and I will tell you its name.

Now whenever he has a problem he calls you and asks, rather than giving you a bad response and making the process restart.

Answer 2

I am going to try to keep this dead simple. A "callback" is any function that is called by another function which takes the first function as a parameter. A lot of the time, a "callback" is a function that is called when something happens. That something can be called an "event" in programmer-speak.

Imagine this scenario: you are expecting a package in a couple of days. The package is a gift for your neighbor. Therefore, once you get the package, you want it brought over to the neighbors. You are out of town, and so you leave instructions for your spouse.

You could tell them to get the package and bring it to the neighbors. If your spouse was as stupid as a computer, they would sit at the door and wait for the package until it came (NOT DOING ANYTHING ELSE) and then once it came they would bring it over to the neighbors. But there's a better way. Tell your spouse that ONCE they receive the package, they should bring it over the neighbors. Then, they can go about life normally UNTIL they receive the package.

In our example, the receiving of the package is the "event" and the bringing it to the neighbors is the "callback". Your spouse "runs" your instructions to bring the package over only when the package arrives. Much better!

This kind of thinking is obvious in daily life, but computers don't have the same kind of common sense. Consider how programmers normally write to a file:

fileObject = open(file)
# now that we have WAITED for the file to open, we can write to it
fileObject.write("We are writing to the file.")
# now we can continue doing the other, totally unrelated things our program does

Here, we WAIT for the file to open, before we write to it. This "blocks" the flow of execution, and our program cannot do any of the other things it might need to do! What if we could do this instead:

# we pass writeToFile (A CALLBACK FUNCTION!) to the open function
fileObject = open(file, writeToFile)
# execution continues flowing -- we don't wait for the file to be opened
# ONCE the file is opened we write to it, but while we wait WE CAN DO OTHER THINGS!

It turns out we do this with some languages and frameworks. It's pretty cool! Check out Node.js to get some real practice with this kind of thinking.

Answer 3

Always better to start with an example :).

Let's assume you have two modules A and B.

You want module A to be notified when some event/condition occurs in module B. However, module B has no idea about your module A. All it knows is an address to a particular function (of module A) through a function pointer that is provided to it by module A.

So all B has to do now, is "callback" into module A when a particular event/condition occurs by using the function pointer. A can do further processing inside the callback function.

*) A clear advantage here is that you are abstracting out everything about module A from module B. Module B does not have to care who/what module A is.

Answer 4

Plain and simple: A callback is a function that you give to another function, so that it can call it.

Usually it is called when some operation is completed. Since you create the callback before giving it to the other function, you can initialize it with context information from the call site. That is why it is named a call*back* - the first function calls back into the context from where it was called.

Answer 5

“In computer programming, a callback is a reference to executable code, or a piece of executable code, that is passed as an argument to other code. This allows a lower-level software layer to call a subroutine (or function) defined in a higher-level layer.” - Wikipedia

Callback in C using Function Pointer

In C, callback is implemented using Function Pointer. Function Pointer - as the name suggests, is a pointer to a function.

For example, int (*ptrFunc) ();

Here, ptrFunc is a pointer to a function that takes no arguments and returns an integer. DO NOT forget to put in the parenthesis, otherwise the compiler will assume that ptrFunc is a normal function name, which takes nothing and returns a pointer to an integer.

Here is some code to demonstrate the function pointer.

#include<stdio.h>
int func(int, int);
int main(void)
{
    int result1,result2;
    /* declaring a pointer to a function which takes
       two int arguments and returns an integer as result */
    int (*ptrFunc)(int,int);

    /* assigning ptrFunc to func's address */                    
    ptrFunc=func;

    /* calling func() through explicit dereference */
    result1 = (*ptrFunc)(10,20);

    /* calling func() through implicit dereference */        
    result2 = ptrFunc(10,20);            
    printf("result1 = %d result2 = %d\n",result1,result2);
    return 0;
}

int func(int x, int y)
{
    return x+y;
}

Now let us try to understand the concept of Callback in C using function pointer.

The complete program has three files: callback.c, reg_callback.h and reg_callback.c.

/* callback.c */
#include<stdio.h>
#include"reg_callback.h"

/* callback function definition goes here */
void my_callback(void)
{
    printf("inside my_callback\n");
}

int main(void)
{
    /* initialize function pointer to
    my_callback */
    callback ptr_my_callback=my_callback;                        
    printf("This is a program demonstrating function callback\n");
    /* register our callback function */
    register_callback(ptr_my_callback);                          
    printf("back inside main program\n");
    return 0;
}

/* reg_callback.h */
typedef void (*callback)(void);
void register_callback(callback ptr_reg_callback);


/* reg_callback.c */
#include<stdio.h>
#include"reg_callback.h"

/* registration goes here */
void register_callback(callback ptr_reg_callback)
{
    printf("inside register_callback\n");
    /* calling our callback function my_callback */
    (*ptr_reg_callback)();                               
}

If we run this program, the output will be

This is a program demonstrating function callback inside register_callback inside my_callback back inside main program

The higher layer function calls a lower layer function as a normal call and the callback mechanism allows the lower layer function to call the higher layer function through a pointer to a callback function.

Callback in Java Using Interface

Java does not have the concept of function pointer It implements Callback mechanism through its Interface mechanism Here instead of a function pointer, we declare an Interface having a method which will be called when the callee finishes its task

Let me demonstrate it through an example:

The Callback Interface

public interface Callback
{
    public void notify(Result result);
}

The Caller or the Higher Level Class

public Class Caller implements Callback
{
Callee ce = new Callee(this); //pass self to the callee

//Other functionality
//Call the Asynctask
ce.doAsynctask();

public void notify(Result result){
//Got the result after the callee has finished the task
//Can do whatever i want with the result
}
}

The Callee or the lower layer function

public Class Callee {
Callback cb;
Callee(Callback cb){
this.cb = cb;
}

doAsynctask(){
//do the long running task
//get the result
cb.notify(result);//after the task is completed, notify the caller
}
}

Callback Using EventListener pattern

• List item

This pattern is used to notify 0 to n numbers of Observers/Listeners that a particular task has finished

• List item

The difference between Callback mechanism and EventListener/Observer mechanism is that in callback, the callee notifies the single caller, whereas in Eventlisener/Observer, the callee can notify anyone who is interested in that event (the notification may go to some other parts of the application which has not triggered the task)

Let me explain it through an example.

The Event Interface

public interface Events {

public void clickEvent();
public void longClickEvent();
}

Class Widget

package com.som_itsolutions.training.java.exampleeventlistener;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;

public class Widget implements Events{

    ArrayList<OnClickEventListener> mClickEventListener = new ArrayList<OnClickEventListener>(); 
    ArrayList<OnLongClickEventListener> mLongClickEventListener = new ArrayList<OnLongClickEventListener>();

    @Override
    public void clickEvent() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        Iterator<OnClickEventListener> it = mClickEventListener.iterator();
                while(it.hasNext()){
                    OnClickEventListener li = it.next();
                    li.onClick(this);
                }   
    }
    @Override
    public void longClickEvent() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        Iterator<OnLongClickEventListener> it = mLongClickEventListener.iterator();
        while(it.hasNext()){
            OnLongClickEventListener li = it.next();
            li.onLongClick(this);
        }

    }

    public interface OnClickEventListener
    {
        public void onClick (Widget source);
    }

    public interface OnLongClickEventListener
    {
        public void onLongClick (Widget source);
    }

    public void setOnClickEventListner(OnClickEventListener li){
        mClickEventListener.add(li);
    }
    public void setOnLongClickEventListner(OnLongClickEventListener li){
        mLongClickEventListener.add(li);
    }
}

Class Button

public class Button extends Widget{
private String mButtonText;
public Button (){
} 
public String getButtonText() {
return mButtonText;
}
public void setButtonText(String buttonText) {
this.mButtonText = buttonText;
}
}

Class Checkbox

public class CheckBox extends Widget{
private boolean checked;
public CheckBox() {
checked = false;
}
public boolean isChecked(){
return (checked == true);
}
public void setCheck(boolean checked){
this.checked = checked;
}
}

Activity Class

package com.som_itsolutions.training.java.exampleeventlistener;

public class Activity implements Widget.OnClickEventListener
{
    public Button mButton;
    public CheckBox mCheckBox;
    private static Activity mActivityHandler;
    public static Activity getActivityHandle(){
        return mActivityHandler;
    }
    public Activity ()
    {
        mActivityHandler = this;
        mButton = new Button();
        mButton.setOnClickEventListner(this);
        mCheckBox = new CheckBox();
        mCheckBox.setOnClickEventListner(this);
        } 
    public void onClick (Widget source)
    {
        if(source == mButton){
            mButton.setButtonText("Thank you for clicking me...");
            System.out.println(((Button) mButton).getButtonText());
        }
        if(source == mCheckBox){
            if(mCheckBox.isChecked()==false){
                mCheckBox.setCheck(true);
                System.out.println("The checkbox is checked...");
            }
            else{
                mCheckBox.setCheck(false);
                System.out.println("The checkbox is not checked...");
            }       
        }
    }
    public void doSomeWork(Widget source){
        source.clickEvent();
    }   
}

Other Class

public class OtherClass implements Widget.OnClickEventListener{
Button mButton;
public OtherClass(){
mButton = Activity.getActivityHandle().mButton;
mButton.setOnClickEventListner(this);//interested in the click event                        //of the button
}
@Override
public void onClick(Widget source) {
if(source == mButton){
System.out.println("Other Class has also received the event notification...");
}
}

Main Class

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
Activity a = new Activity();
OtherClass o = new OtherClass();
a.doSomeWork(a.mButton);
a.doSomeWork(a.mCheckBox);
}
}

As you can see from the above code, that we have an interface called events which basically lists all the events that may happen for our application. The Widget class is the base class for all the UI components like Button, Checkbox. These UI components are the objects that actually receive the events from the framework code. Widget class implements the Events interface and also it has two nested interfaces namely OnClickEventListener & OnLongClickEventListener

These two interfaces are responsible for listening to events that may occur on the Widget derived UI components like Button or Checkbox. So if we compare this example with the earlier Callback example using Java Interface, these two interfaces work as the Callback interface. So the higher level code (Here Activity) implements these two interfaces. And whenever an event occurs to a widget, the higher level code (or the method of these interfaces implemented in the higher level code, which is here Activity) will be called.

Now let me discuss the basic difference between Callback and Eventlistener pattern. As we have mentioned that using Callback, the Callee can notify only a single Caller. But in the case of EventListener pattern, any other part or class of the Application can register for the events that may occur on the Button or Checkbox. The example of this kind of class is the OtherClass. If you see the code of the OtherClass, you will find that it has registered itself as a listener to the ClickEvent that may occur in the Button defined in the Activity. Interesting part is that, besides the Activity ( the Caller), this OtherClass will also be notified whenever the click event occurs on the Button.

Answer 6

A callback is a method that is scheduled to be executed when a condition is met.

An "real world" example is a local video game store. You are waiting for Half-Life 3. Instead of going to the store every day to see if it is in, you register your email on a list to be notified when the game is available. The email becomes your "callback" and the condition to be met is the game's availability.

A "programmers" example is a web page where you want to perform an action when a button is clicked. You register a callback method for a button and continue doing other tasks. When/if the user cicks on the button, the browser will look at the list of callbacks for that event and call your method.

A callback is a way to handle events asynchronously. You can never know when the callback will be executed, or if it will be executed at all. The advantage is that it frees your program and CPU cycles to perform other tasks while waiting for the reply.