Python Coroutines: Functions You Can Pause and Resume

A Python coroutine is a function that can be paused and resumed. It yields control during I/O waits, allowing other tasks to run instead of blocking the program. The main footgun: calling an `async` function does nothing; you must `await` it to run it.
Think of a coroutine as a cooperative function you can pause and resume. Defined with `async def`, it yields control to the event loop via `await` when it hits a slow, I/O-bound operation. This allows other tasks to run instead of blocking the program, which is key for frameworks like FastAPI. The main footgun: simply calling an `async` function creates an object but doesn't execute it. You must explicitly `await` it or schedule it with `asyncio.create_task()`.
Read the original → docs.python.org
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