Explore structured concurrency in Swift

1:57 - Asynchronous code with completion handlers is unstructured

func fetchThumbnails(
    for ids: [String],
    completion handler: @escaping ([String: UIImage]?, Error?) -> Void
) {
    guard let id = ids.first else { return handler([:], nil) }
    let request = thumbnailURLRequest(for: id)
    let dataTask = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) { data, response, error in
        guard let response = response,
              let data = data
        else {
            return handler(nil, error)
        }
        // ... check response ...
        UIImage(data: data)?.prepareThumbnail(of: thumbSize) { image in
            guard let image = image else {
                return handler(nil, ThumbnailFailedError())
            }
            fetchThumbnails(for: Array(ids.dropFirst())) { thumbnails, error in
                // ... add image to thumbnails ...
            }
        }
    }
    dataTask.resume()
}

2:56 - Asynchronous code with async/await is structured

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    for id in ids {
        let request = thumbnailURLRequest(for: id)
        let (data, response) = try await URLSession.shared.data(for: request)
        try validateResponse(response)
        guard let image = await UIImage(data: data)?.byPreparingThumbnail(ofSize: thumbSize) else {
            throw ThumbnailFailedError()
        }
        thumbnails[id] = image
    }
    return thumbnails
}

7:59 - Structured concurrency with async-let

func fetchOneThumbnail(withID id: String) async throws -> UIImage {
    let imageReq = imageRequest(for: id), metadataReq = metadataRequest(for: id)
    async let (data, _) = URLSession.shared.data(for: imageReq)
    async let (metadata, _) = URLSession.shared.data(for: metadataReq)
    guard let size = parseSize(from: try await metadata),
          let image = try await UIImage(data: data)?.byPreparingThumbnail(ofSize: size)
    else {
        throw ThumbnailFailedError()
    }
    return image
}

11:46 - Checking for cancellation by calling a method that throws

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    for id in ids {
        try Task.checkCancellation()
        thumbnails[id] = try await fetchOneThumbnail(withID: id)
    }
    return thumbnails
}

12:16 - Obtaining the cancellation status of the current task

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    for id in ids {
        if Task.isCancelled { break }
        thumbnails[id] = try await fetchOneThumbnail(withID: id)
    }
    return thumbnails
}

13:13 - Async-let is for concurrency with static width

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    for id in ids {
        thumbnails[id] = try await fetchOneThumbnail(withID: id)
    }
    return thumbnails
}

func fetchOneThumbnail(withID id: String) async throws -> UIImage {
    // ...

    async let (data, _) = URLSession.shared.data(for: imageReq)
    async let (metadata, _) = URLSession.shared.data(for: metadataReq)

    // ...
}

13:58 - A task group is for concurrency with dynamic width

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: Void.self) { group in
        for id in ids {
            group.async {
                // Error: Mutation of captured var 'thumbnails' in concurrently executing code
                thumbnails[id] = try await fetchOneThumbnail(withID: id)
            }
        }
    }
    return thumbnails
}

16:32 - Accessing the results of tasks within a group

func fetchThumbnails(for ids: [String]) async throws -> [String: UIImage] {
    var thumbnails: [String: UIImage] = [:]
    try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: (String, UIImage).self) { group in
        for id in ids {
            group.async {
                return (id, try await fetchOneThumbnail(withID: id))
            }
        }
        // Obtain results from the child tasks, sequentially, in order of completion.
        for try await (id, thumbnail) in group {
            thumbnails[id] = thumbnail
        }
    }
    return thumbnails
}

20:39 - Creating an unstructured task

@MainActor
class MyDelegate: UICollectionViewDelegate {
    func collectionView(_ view: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt item: IndexPath) {
        let ids = getThumbnailIDs(for: item)
        Task {
            let thumbnails = await fetchThumbnails(for: ids)
            display(thumbnails, in: cell)
        }
    }
}

22:11 - Cancelling unstructured tasks

@MainActor
class MyDelegate: UICollectionViewDelegate {
    var thumbnailTasks: [IndexPath: Task<Void, Never>] = [:]
    
    func collectionView(_ view: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt item: IndexPath) {
        let ids = getThumbnailIDs(for: item)
        thumbnailTasks[item] = Task {
            defer { thumbnailTasks[item] = nil }
            let thumbnails = await fetchThumbnails(for: ids)
            display(thumbnails, in: cell)
        }
    }
    
    func collectionView(_ view: UICollectionView, didEndDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt item: IndexPath) {
        thumbnailTasks[item]?.cancel()
    }
}

24:09 - Detaching a task

@MainActor
class MyDelegate: UICollectionViewDelegate {
    var thumbnailTasks: [IndexPath: Task<Void, Never>] = [:]
    
    func collectionView(_ view: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt item: IndexPath) {
        let ids = getThumbnailIDs(for: item)
        thumbnailTasks[item] = Task {
            defer { thumbnailTasks[item] = nil }
            let thumbnails = await fetchThumbnails(for: ids)
            Task.detached(priority: .background) {
                writeToLocalCache(thumbnails)
            }
            display(thumbnails, in: cell)
        }
    }
}

24:57 - Creating a task group inside a detached task

@MainActor
class MyDelegate: UICollectionViewDelegate {
    var thumbnailTasks: [IndexPath: Task<Void, Never>] = [:]
    
    func collectionView(_ view: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt item: IndexPath) {
        let ids = getThumbnailIDs(for: item)
        thumbnailTasks[item] = Task {
            defer { thumbnailTasks[item] = nil }
            let thumbnails = await fetchThumbnails(for: ids)
            Task.detached(priority: .background) {
                withTaskGroup(of: Void.self) { g in
                    g.async { writeToLocalCache(thumbnails) }
                    g.async { log(thumbnails) }
                    g.async { ... }
                }
            }
            display(thumbnails, in: cell)
        }
    }
}