What is difference between synchronous and asynchronous method of fs module?

In Node.js, the fs (File System) module provides both synchronous and asynchronous methods for performing file operations such as reading, writing, and deleting files. The key difference between synchronous and asynchronous methods in the fs module lies in how they handle I/O operations and the execution flow of the program.

Synchronous Methods

Synchronous methods, also known as blocking methods, execute file operations sequentially. When a synchronous method is called, the program execution is halted until the file operation completes. This means that no other code can run in the meantime, and the program must wait for the operation to finish before it can proceed to the next line of code. Synchronous methods are typically suffixed with Sync in their names, such as fs.readFileSync() and fs.writeFileSync()[1][3].

For example, when using fs.readFileSync(), the program will read the entire file and only continue execution once the file has been completely read. This can lead to performance issues, especially when dealing with large files or a high number of file operations, as it can block the main thread and prevent other operations from executing[3][4].

Asynchronous Methods

Asynchronous methods, on the other hand, are non-blocking. They allow the program to continue executing other code while the file operation is being performed in the background. Asynchronous methods take a callback function as the last parameter, which is called once the operation is complete, passing any results or errors to this callback function. Asynchronous methods do not have the Sync suffix, such as fs.readFile() and fs.writeFile()[1][2].

For insta...