Unlock Async/Await in Node.js 7: A Quick Guide to Eliminate Callback Hell

A few months ago, the V8 engine added support for the async/await keywords. After several updates, the V8 in Node.js 7 finally includes async/await in the latest night build.

To solve callback hell, developers have progressed from callbacks to Promise objects to Generator functions, each improvement still required understanding complex underlying mechanisms.

The ultimate goal of asynchronous programming is to not have to think about asynchrony at all, so async/await is hailed as a killer solution that frees you from callback hell.

You can now use this keyword in Node.js 7 by following these steps:

Install Node.js 7, e.g., using nvm.

Write a simple example using async/await.

Start the service with node --harmony-async-await app.js. Note that because this feature is still experimental, you must enable it with the --harmony-async-await flag.

Previously, building a web service with Koa v2 that used this feature required Babel or other compilers; now you can simply start it with node --harmony-async-await app.js.

Note: According to the Node.js release schedule, the stable version will be released in April 2017. Until then, async/await remains unstable, so do not use it in production environments.