Describe the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Synchronous Communication:

• Sender waits for receiver's response before continuing
• Blocking operation with immediate feedback
• Simpler error handling and debugging
• Can create cascading failures and reduce availability
• Example: HTTP request-response, RPC calls

Asynchronous Communication:

• Sender doesn't wait for response and continues processing
• Non-blocking operation with eventual notification
• Better performance and fault isolation
• More complex error handling and state management
• Example: Message queues, event-driven architectures

# Synchronous
response = api_call()  # Blocks until response
process(response)

# Asynchronous  
api_call_async(callback=process)  # Non-blocking
continue_other_work()