`async` returns a `Deferred<T>` — like a Future. Use it when you need a RESULT back, in parallel. Call `.await()` to get the value (suspends until ready).
`rayon` lets you parallelize CPU-bound iterator chains by changing `.iter()` to `.par_iter()`. Handles thread-pool, work-stealing, and synchronization for you.
`xargs -P N` is a Swiss-army knife for parallel map: feed it a list of inputs and a command, it runs N workers. Faster and simpler than bash for-loops with `&`.