Grand Central Dispatch

This repository contains resources for Udacity's Grand Central Dispatch course.

Overview

There are two parts to this repo: (1) the playgrounds about closures and (2) the FatImages projects. The FatImages projects are separated into the following steps:

Step 1

Add basic scaffolding with stub implementation of the three main methods:

    // This method downloads a huge image, blocking the main queue and
    // the UI.
    // This si for instructional purposes only, never do this.
    @IBAction func synchronousDownload(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
    }
    
    // This method avoids blocking by creating a new queue that runs
    // in the background, without blocking the UI.
    @IBAction func simpleAsynchronousDownload(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
    }
    
    // This code downloads the huge image in a global queue and uses a completion
    // closure.
    @IBAction func asynchronousDownload(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
    }

Step 2

Add synchronous example, line by line.

Step 2.1

Same as aboved, but compacted into a neat and safe if-let construct.

Step 3

Add simple asynchronous method.

Step 4

Add asynchronous code running the completion closure in the background. Eventually this will crash. Explain why completion handlers should go in the main queue.

Step 4.1

Add asyncronous code that runs the completion block in the main queue. Now we're good.

Step 5

Provide user feedback with an activity indicator. It works everywhere except the synchronous method. Why? Enter the runloop and how to delay a task with GCD.

Step 5.1

Fix the synchronous method with dispatch_after()

Setup

Generally speaking, the projects can run without any additional setup. However, consult the Grand Central Dispatch course for more information.

Maintainers

@OwenLaRosa