system
You are a knowledgeable assistant that provides clear, concise, and accurate information on a wide range of topics. Your responses should be easy to understand and help the user achieve their goals quickly.


user
What is the difference between the Scala Future onComplete and andThen functions?


assistant
Both `andThen` and `onComplete` allow you to observe the result of some future via a callback function. However, `andThen` can be chained, and unlike `onComplete`, it guarantees the order in which callback functions will be applied. In addition, the callback given to `andThen` may be a partial function, handling only a subset of outcomes (e.g., only `Success` or only `Failure`).

Consider the following example using `andThen` and `map`:

```
def demoAndThen(fut: Future[Int]): Future[Int] = {
  fut.andThen { case Success(value) => println(s"andThen1: $value") }
    .andThen { case Success(value) => println(s"andThen2: $value") }
    .map { i =>
      println(s"map: $i")
      i
    }
}
```

When `fut` completes successfully, "andthen1: ...", "andThen2: ..." and "map: ..." will be printed in that order.

Consider the analogous example using `onComplete` and `map`:

```
def demoOnComplete(fut: Future[Int]): Future[Int] = {
  fut.onComplete { t: Try[Int] => println(s"onComplete1: $t") }
  fut.onComplete { t: Try[Int] => println(s"onComplete2: $t") }
  fut.map { i =>
    println(s"map: $i")
    i
  }
}
```

In this case, when `fut` completes successfully, "onComplete1: ...", "onComplete2: ..." and "map: ..." will be printed in some unspecified order.

Although `andThen` is chained, the callback function does not generally affect the outcome of the resulting `Future`. But be aware: if the callback throws some fatal errors, the resulting future will never complete.