In web development, asynchronous programming is notorious for being a challenging topic.

An asynchronous operation is one that allows the computer to “move on” to other tasks while waiting for the asynchronous operation to complete. Asynchronous programming means that time-consuming operations don’t have to bring everything else in our programs to a halt.

There are countless examples of asynchronicity in our everyday lives. Cleaning our house, for example, involves asynchronous operations such as a dishwasher washing our dishes or a washing machine washing our clothes. While we wait on the completion of those operations, we’re free to do other chores.

Similarly, web development makes use of asynchronous operations. Operations like making a network request or querying a database can be time-consuming, but JavaScript allows us to execute other tasks while awaiting their completion.

This lesson will teach you how modern JavaScript handles asynchronicity using the Promise object, introduced with ES6. Let’s get started!