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is python synchronous or asynchronous

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

Is Python Synchronous or Asynchronous?

Python is a general-purpose programming language that supports both synchronous and asynchronous programming. Synchronous programming is the traditional way of writing programs where each line of code is executed one after another. In contrast, asynchronous programming allows multiple tasks to run concurrently without blocking the main thread.

Synchronous Programming

In synchronous programming, each line of code is executed in a sequential order. When a function is called, the program waits for it to complete before moving to the next line of code. This means that if a function takes a long time to execute, the program will be blocked until the function returns.

Example:


def add_numbers(a, b):
    sum = a + b
    return sum

result = add_numbers(2, 3)
print(result)

In the above example, the add_numbers() function is called with two arguments - 2 and 3. The function adds these two numbers and returns the sum. The result is then printed to the console.

Asynchronous Programming

In asynchronous programming, multiple tasks can be executed concurrently without blocking the main thread. This means that a function can be executed in the background while the program continues executing other lines of code. Async programming is especially useful for I/O-bound tasks such as network requests or file I/O operations.

Python provides a built-in module called asyncio that allows us to write asynchronous code. The module provides an event loop that manages the execution of tasks.

Example:


import asyncio

async def say_hello():
    print("Hello")

async def say_world():
    print("World")

loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.gather(say_hello(), say_world()))

In the above example, we define two asynchronous functions - say_hello() and say_world(). These functions print "Hello" and "World" respectively. We then create an event loop and run the two functions concurrently using the asyncio.gather() method.

Conclusion

Python supports both synchronous and asynchronous programming. Synchronous programming is the traditional way of writing programs where each line of code is executed one after another. Asynchronous programming allows multiple tasks to run concurrently without blocking the main thread. Python provides a built-in module called asyncio that allows us to write asynchronous code.

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