async/await solution to the problem posed in https://medium.com/@bluepnume/even-with-async-await-you-probably-still-need-promises-9b259854c161#.kyz25n9mw

pizza.js

async function makePizza(sauceType = 'red') {
  let [ dough, [ sauce, cheese ]] = await Promise.all([ makeDough(), makeToppings(sauceType) ])
  return dough.add(sauce).add(cheese)
}

async function makeToppings(sauceType) {
  return [ await makeSauce(sauceType), await makeCheese() ]
}

Cheese has a dependency on sauce:

async function makePizza(sauceType = 'red') {
  let [ dough, [ sauce, cheese ]] = await Promise.all([ makeDough(), makeToppings(sauceType) ])
  return dough.add(sauce).add(cheese)
}

async function makeToppings(sauceType) {
  let sauce = makeSauce(sauceType);
  let cheese = await grateCheese(sauce);
  return [ sauce, cheese ];
}

But otherwise, yep. I like this a lot. But I think the point still stands -- you have to think carefully about how to compose the underlying promises here, to come up with this solution.

Ah, thanks:

async function makePizza(sauceType = 'red') {
  let [ dough, [ sauce, cheese ]] = await Promise.all([ makeDough(), makeToppings(sauceType) ])
  return dough.add(sauce).add(cheese)
}

async function makeToppings(sauceType) {
  let sauce = await makeSauce(sauceType)
  return [ sauce, await makeCheese(sauce) ]
}

I agree, having an understanding of Promises is crucial.

Also, I'll grant this is a pretty simple pizza, and this solution would quickly get messy once more toppings were necessary with different interdependencies.