is python sync or async

Is Python sync or async?

Python is a programming language that can be used for both synchronous (sync) and asynchronous (async) programming paradigms. The default mode of operation for Python is synchronous, but it has built-in libraries that allow it to support asynchronous operations as well.

Synchronous Programming

Synchronous programming refers to the traditional way of executing code where a program will block until a specific task is completed before moving on to the next one. In Python, this can be achieved using the time.sleep() function. When this function is called, the program will stop executing until the specified amount of time has elapsed.

import time

def sync_function():
    print("Starting sync function...")
    time.sleep(5)
    print("Sync function complete.")
    
sync_function()

In the above example, the sync_function() is executed synchronously. The program will pause for 5 seconds before continuing to the next line of code.

Asynchronous Programming

Asynchronous programming, on the other hand, allows a program to execute multiple tasks simultaneously without waiting for each task to complete before moving on to the next one. In Python, this can be achieved using the asyncio library.

import asyncio

async def async_function():
    print("Starting async function...")
    await asyncio.sleep(5)
    print("Async function complete.")
    
asyncio.run(async_function())

In the above example, the async_function() is executed asynchronously using the asyncio.run() method. The await keyword is used to pause the execution of the function until the specified amount of time has elapsed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Python supports both synchronous and asynchronous programming paradigms. Synchronous programming is the default mode of operation, but asynchronous programming can be achieved using the asyncio library.