Easy to understand definition of "asynchronous event"?

javascript events asynchronous terminology definition
jasonbogd picture jasonbogd · Dec 30, 2010 · Viewed 64.7k times · Source

I've encountered this term a lot, and even after Googling, still can't understand what exactly it means. Is there some easy-to-understand (ideally with examples) definition of what an asynchronous event is that someone can provide?

Thanks!

Answer

epascarello picture epascarello · Dec 30, 2010

Non programming example:

Synchronous You want a pizza for dinner and you are out of the frozen kind. So you have to stop playing WOW which upsets your guild. You go to the kitchen, make the dough, cover it with sauce, add the cheese, and smother it your favorite bacon topping. You just spent 20 minutes of your time making the pizza with another 10 minutes in the oven. The timer beeps and you pull the hot pie out. You can sit back down in front of your computer, eat the pizza, and continue with your raid.

Asynchronous You want a pizza for dinner while playing WOW. You open up a browser window on your 5th monitor. You load up the Pizza website and order your extra cheesy bacon pizza with a side of bacon grease garlic sauce. You go back to your raid and after 20 minutes the door bell rings. You get the pizza. You sit back down in front of your computer, eat the pizza, and continue with your raid.

So what is the difference? One way you waste 20-30 minutes of precious WOW time, the other way you waste $20 plus tip.

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