Can you explain what it means to execute code without asynchronous methods?

Executing code without asynchronous methods means that all operations are performed sequentially and block the current thread until completion. This is called synchronous execution.

For example, if an application needs to load data from the network, in a synchronous approach, the thread will wait for the download to finish, not performing other tasks. This can lead to a "freeze" of the interface.

Asynchronous methods allow launching long-running operations in the background and continuing work without blocking the main thread. Without them, the application works sequentially, which is simpler but less efficient for tasks with delays (e.g., network, input-output).

Example of synchronous code in Swift:

func fetchData() -> Data? {
    let url = URL(string: "https://example.com/data.json")!
    return try? Data(contentsOf: url) // blocks the thread until loading
}

let data = fetchData()
print("Data loaded")

Here, execution will stop at data loading, and the interface will not respond until the loading is complete.