Foundations of FastAPI and Asynchronous Python

Compare the server gateway interfaces: ASGI used by FastAPI vs. WSGI used by Django.

Contrast FastAPI's async-first programming model with Django's synchronous request-response cycle.

Write Python coroutines using `async` and `await` and run them concurrently using `asyncio.gather`.

Distinguish when to use `async def` vs. `def` for route handlers and explain how FastAPI handles blocking I/O.

Define and run a minimal FastAPI application using uvicorn, comparing the workflow to Django's `runserver`.

Use Python type hints to annotate function parameters and return types as the basis for FastAPI's auto-validation.

Implement application startup and shutdown logic using lifespan events.