What are the best practices for using async and await in Python?

What are the best practices for using async and await in Python?

When using async and await in Python, it's important to follow a few best practices: 1. Use async functions for I/O-bound tasks. 2. Avoid blocking calls within async functions. 3. Use asyncio.gather for concurrent execution of coroutines. 4. Handle exceptions properly within async functions.

Can you explain why blocking calls are a problem?

Blocking calls can halt the execution of your async function, preventing other tasks from running. This defeats the purpose of using async programming, which is to allow multiple operations to run concurrently.

What is asyncio.gather and how do I use it?

asyncio.gather is a function that allows you to run multiple coroutines concurrently. You can pass multiple async functions to it, and it will return their results once all have completed.

Can you give me a code example of using asyncio.gather?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

import asyncio

async def fetch_data(x):
    await asyncio.sleep(1)
    return f'Data {x}'

async def main():
    results = await asyncio.gather(fetch_data(1), fetch_data(2), fetch_data(3))
    print(results)

asyncio.run(main())