In programming, what does "asynchronous" mean?

The term "asynchronous" in programming refers to operations that can occur independently of the main program flow. This means that when an asynchronous task is initiated, the program does not have to wait for that task to complete before moving on to execute other parts of the code. This is particularly beneficial for operations that may take an unpredictable amount of time, such as network requests or file I/O operations. By allowing these tasks to run simultaneously, the program can continue processing other instructions, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness. This is in contrast to synchronous operations, where subsequent tasks must wait until the current task finishes before starting.