Async/Await Patterns Every Developer Should Know

Beyond the Basics

Most developers learn the basic async/await syntax quickly, but there are patterns that separate good async code from great async code.

Pattern 1: Parallel Execution

Don't await sequentially when tasks are independent:

// Slow — sequential
const users = await fetchUsers();
const posts = await fetchPosts();

// Fast — parallel
const [users, posts] = await Promise.all([
  fetchUsers(),
  fetchPosts(),
]);

Pattern 2: Error Handling Wrapper

Create a utility to avoid repetitive try-catch blocks:

async function tryCatch(promise) {
  try {
    const data = await promise;
    return [data, null];
  } catch (error) {
    return [null, error];
  }
}

const [user, error] = await tryCatch(fetchUser(id));
if (error) console.error('Failed:', error.message);

Pattern 3: Retry Logic

async function retry(fn, attempts = 3, delay = 1000) {
  for (let i = 0; i < attempts; i++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (err) {
      if (i === attempts - 1) throw err;
      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delay * (i + 1)));
    }
  }
}

const data = await retry(() => fetch('/api/data'));

These patterns will make your async code more robust and readable.