Example of how to transform streams of data in Dart/Flutter when the transform involves asynchronous calls.

streams_with_async.dart

import 'dart:async';
import 'dart:math' show Random;

final random = Random();

// Mock data for a list of messages
const messageList = [
  {
    'message': 'Message 1',
    'timestamp': 1,
    'uid': 1,
  },
  {
    'message': 'Message 2',
    'timestamp': 2,
    'uid': 2,
  },
  {
    'message': 'Message 3',
    'timestamp': 3,
    'uid': 2,
  },
];

// Mock data for users
const userList = {
  1: 'User 1',
  2: 'User 2',
  3: 'User 3',
};

// Data class for messages
class Message {
  final String message;
  final int timestamp;
  final int uid;
  final String user;
  const Message(this.message, this.timestamp, this.uid, this.user);

  @override
  String toString() => '$user => $message';
}

// Mimic a stream of a list of messages
Stream<List<Map<String, dynamic>>> getMessagesMock() async* {
  yield messageList;
  while (true) {
    await Future.delayed(Duration(seconds: random.nextInt(3) + 1));
    yield messageList;
  }
}

// Mimic asynchronously fetching a user
Future<String> getUserMock(int uid) => userList.containsKey(uid)
    ? Future.delayed(
        Duration(milliseconds: 100 + random.nextInt(100)),
        () => userList[uid],
      )
    : Future.value(null);

// Transform the contents of a stream asynchronously
Stream<List<Message>> getMessagesStream() => getMessagesMock()
    .asyncMap<List<Message>>((messageList) => Future.wait(
          messageList.map<Future<Message>>(
            (m) async => Message(
              m['message'],
              m['timestamp'],
              m['uid'],
              await getUserMock(m['uid']),
            ),
          ),
        ));

void main() async {
  print('Streams with async transforms test');
  await for (var messages in getMessagesStream()) {
    messages.forEach(print);
  }
}