Why 'await' Pauses a Function, Not Your Entire JavaScript Program
Many developers mistakenly believe that using 'await' in JavaScript halts the entire program until an operation completes, but it only pauses the specific async function it is used in. While one async function waits at an 'await' expression, the rest of the program — including timers, event handlers, and other async functions — continues to run. This means two async functions called in sequence can finish in a different order than they were invoked, depending on how long each takes to resolve. To force sequential execution, the calling function must also use 'await' before each call, explicitly chaining the pauses. Understanding that 'await' is a local bookmark rather than a program-wide freeze helps developers avoid subtle ordering bugs in asynchronous code.
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