What Async Promised and What It Delivered

Article

TL;DR

Async/await solved callback hell but introduced function coloring, silent rejection failures, and new cognitive load.

Key Takeaways

• Unhandled promise rejections created a new silent failure class that callbacks never had
• Function coloring is inherent to the async model — not introduced by async/await syntax
• HN commenters flag potential AI slop; effect systems are the proposed real next step

Discussion

Top comments:

• [joelwilliamson]: Function coloring and deadlocks predate async/await — they’re in all prior techniques too
• [paulddraper]: Node changed unhandled rejections from warning to crash — async created new silent failure mode
• [littlestymaar]: Incorrectly quotes ‘what color is your function’ — possible AI-generated content in 2026

Discuss on HN