Asynchronous Requests: A Guide for the Uninitiated

Why Bother?

Because your users don't care, that's why.

Just kidding, they actually hate waiting for things to happen. And who can blame them?

Why Bother?

Best Practices

Don't make your users wait for the sun to come up in the East. Use async requests to get ahead of the game.

Or, you know, just make an educated guess. That's what we're doing here.

Best Practices

Tools of the Trade

We recommend using the following tools for your async adventures:

• XMLHttpRequest (the original async rebel)
• fetch API (for when you want to get fancy)
• Promises (because who doesn't love a good promise?

Tools of the Trade

Troubleshooting

When things go wrong (and they will go wrong)

Check your console logs for errors. Or, you know, just guess.

Troubleshooting

Caveats

Asynchronous requests are not all they're cracked up to be.

Caveats include, but are not limited to:

• Server overload
• Cosmic radiation
• Occasional existential dread

Caveats

Conclusion

Asynchronous requests: they're like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.

Or, you know, just use them anyway.

Conclusion