JavaScript is one of the most popular languages of our time when it comes to web development using frameworks. It’s also rather easy to learn and work with, as long as you’re paying attention. That said, programming is still hard and random bugs and glitches are the order of the day. 

In this article, we’re talking about the “unexpected reserved word ‘await'” error in Javascript, its causes and what you can do to fix the problem.

What causes this error?

For those of you who are new to Javascript, the await and async keywords might not seem like they’re important and that’s you making a big mistake. The main cause of the error is the use of await in a function that is not declared as asynchronous using the async keyword. 

Also read: How to fix Javascript error: ipython is not defined?

How to solve this error?

The only way to solve the error is to either remove the await statement or make the function asynchronous. Based on how you’ve written your code, you might need to work a bit harder to find the exact method that needs to be asynchronous. 

One very important thing to keep in mind is the level of async that you’re using. Just because a function has been declared asynchronous, that doesn’t mean any functions declared inside will also be asynchronous by default. You’ll have to specify async explicitly for each level unless you’re declaring a top level async.

If you’re trying to use async at the top level, make sure that the type attribute has been set as module in the package.json file before proceeding. Alternatively, you can also attribute a script tag in your browser. 

Last but not least, if you’re in a browser environment, set the type attribute to module inside your script tag to be able to use async for the entire imported file. 

Also read: How to fix Error: command ‘/usr/bin/clang’ failed with exit code 1?