Lesson 2 of 4
async / await
Concept
Regular functions block — nothing else runs until they finish.
async functions can pause while waiting (for a database, a network call) and let other requests proceed. await marks the pause points.
m3shdup/app/db.py
# SYNC (blocking) — everything waits
def get_agents_sync():
conn = sqlite3.connect('data/mesh.db') # blocks
result = conn.execute('SELECT * FROM agents') # blocks
return result.fetchall()
# ASYNC (non-blocking) — other requests can proceed
async def get_agents():
conn = await aiosqlite.connect('data/mesh.db') # pauses, doesn't block
result = await conn.execute('SELECT * FROM agents') # pauses, doesn't block
return await result.fetchall()What's happening
Your mesh handles many simultaneous requests — agents heartbeating, tasks dispatching, health checks. Without async, request #2 waits for request #1's database query to finish. With async, while request #1 waits for the DB, request #2 can start processing.