In the last exercise, we covered the async keyword. By itself, it doesn’t do much; async functions are almost always used with the additional keyword await inside the function body.
The await keyword can only be used inside an async function. await is an operator: it returns the resolved value of a promise. Since promises resolve in an indeterminate amount of time, await halts, or pauses, the execution of our async function until a given promise is resolved.
In most situations, we’re dealing with promises that were returned from functions. Generally, these functions are through a library, and, in this lesson, we’ll be providing them. We can await the resolution of the promise it returns inside an async function. In the example below, myPromise() is a function that returns a promise which will resolve to the string "I am resolved now!".
Within our async function, asyncFuncExample(), we use await to halt our execution until myPromise() is resolved and assign its resolved value to the variable resolvedValue. Then we log resolvedValue to the console. We’re able to handle the logic for a promise in a way that reads like synchronous code.
Instructions
In the provided code, we’ve required in the function brainstormDinner(). This function expects no arguments and returns a new promise with a resolved value of a string representing a meal. (You can look at the code for this function by navigating to the library.js file.)
Look at the nativePromiseDinner() function in app.js. Take a moment to understand this function and predict its expected outcome. In the next step, you’ll be recreating its functionality using async...await rather than native promises.
It’s not necessary to execute the nativePromiseDinner() function, but, if you’d like to, check out the hint for some guidance. Press “Check Work” when you’re ready to move on to the next step.
Fill in the body of the announceDinner() function so that it has the same functionality as nativePromiseDinner(). It should wait for the promise returned from brainstormDinner() to resolve, and then log a string to the console in the same format as did nativePromiseDinner(). You’ll need to use the await operator inside your function.
When you’re ready, check your work to move on to the next step.
At the bottom of app.js, beneath the function declaration, invoke the announceDinner() function.
In the terminal type node app.js and press enter to execute your code.