The word await is a reserved word in JavaScript, so when you’re writing code and come across this word, you must have an operator before it. This article goes over the different methods of finding out where an await is being used in your code and offers solutions for fixing these errors.
What is Await?
When you use the await keyword in javascript, it will wait for the specified task to finish before continuing. This is useful for tasks that may take a long time to complete. For example, you might use await to wait for a network call to finish.
The Problem with Await
If you are writing JavaScript, you may have come across the await keyword. The await keyword allows you to suspend execution of a task until another task completes. For example:
await result => { // do something with the result }
The problem with await is that it can cause unexpected results when used in certain circumstances. If you’re not sure whether await will work as expected, try using the following code:
await result => { // do something with the result }
This code will not cause any errors, but it won’t actually do anything because the result variable isn’t defined. To see an example of how this might fail, consider the following code:
var x = 10; // x is initially undefined var y = 5; // y is initially undefined await x * y; // x is now 15 and y is now 25 console.log(x, y);
In this code, x and y are both initially undefined, so when x is multiplied by y , the values inside the await statement are not executed until after the statement has completed. This means that x and y will be set to 15 and 25 respectively, even though they weren’t initialized that way.
How to Fix Reserved Word Await
If you’re encountering an error such as “undefined variable: await” when trying to use the await keyword in a code block, there’s a chance that this keyword is reserved for use by the JavaScript language itself. In this case, you can fix the issue by replacing the await keyword with a different word. Here are some alternatives to consider: continue, wait, or delay.
Conclusion
If you are encountering an unexpected reserved word await in your javascript code, there is a common and easy solution. Simply replace it with the word timeout. This change will cause the code to run as expected, and avoid any potential errors.