Understand dispatch() vs dispatch_sync() in Laravel Jobs

Know when to push background jobs to asynchronous queues with dispatch() versus executing them immediately in the current HTTP request process using dispatch_sync().

Laravel provides helper functions for pushing jobs to workers or executing them synchronously in the current process.

Understanding the difference makes sure background operations execute at the right time:

use App\Jobs\ProcessPdfExport;
use App\Jobs\UpdateUserStatus;

// Async: Pushes job to queue driver (Redis/Database) for worker execution
dispatch(new ProcessPdfExport($document));

// Sync: Executes job immediately inside current HTTP request process
dispatch_sync(new UpdateUserStatus($user));

• dispatch(): Non-blocking, offloads long-running tasks to queue workers
• dispatch_sync(): Blocking, runs immediately inline without requiring an active queue worker
• Handy for CLI commands and testing where immediate execution is required