Are most http requests synchronous by default?

Question

Are most functions for http requests synchronous by default?

I came from Javascript and usage of AJAX and just started working with http requests in Python. To my surprise, it seems as though http request functions by default are synchronous, so I do not need to deal with any asynchronous behavior. For example, I'm working with the Requests http library, and although the docs don't explicitly say whether http requests are synchronous or not, by my own testing the calls seem to be synchronous.

So is it that most http requests are by default synchronous in nature, or most functions are designed that way? And my first experience with http requests (JS AJAX) just happened to be of an asynchronous nature?

Depends on library. I would imagine that there are more asynchronous calls - but such is the nature of programming (and "happens-before"). Although some languages/runtimes *only* have asynchronous I/O. — user2864740, Jul 25 '14 at 01:10
There are lots of synchronous http libraries. There are lots of asynchronous ones, too. I'm not sure that anyone really knows which there are more of. — dano, Jul 25 '14 at 01:12
@dano Ah, okay. I think that's a great answer actually, clears things up conceptually. — LazerSharks, Jul 25 '14 at 01:27

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 25 '14 at 01:13

It's the language, in python most apis are synchronous by default, and the async version is usually an "advanced" topic. If you were using nodejs, they would be async; even if using javascript, the reason ajax is asynchronous is because of the nature of the browser.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

1

requests is completely synchronous/blocking. grequests is what you are looking for:

GRequests allows you to use Requests with Gevent to make asynchronous HTTP Requests easily.

Are most http requests synchronous by default?

2 Answers2