Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) (Udacity)

Offered by Udacity,
Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) (Udacity)

Perform Asynchronous Operations in iOS. Many times your apps need to run lengthy operations in the background, like downloading data, but you don't want these operations to interfere with your UI. Apple's GCD (long form: Grand Central Dispatch) framework allows you to create asynchronous apps for iOS, ensuring smooth a smooth user experience in situations like the one mentioned above.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Udacity's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What you will learn

  • Closures Reloaded

Closures in Swift
Properties of closures that we bypassed in our Swift Syntax course

  • Grand Central Dispatch

Apple's open source library Grand Central Dispatch
How GCD allows you to send tasks to the background and (equally important) to the foreground
How and what you can send to the background and what must always run in the foreground

  • Sample App

Create a simple App that downloads huge images (the easiest way to block the UI)
Send this network lengthy task to the background in 2 different ways
Run closures in the background
Design methods that take a completion closure

Prerequisites and requirements
To be successful in this course, you should be comfortable programming in Swift, and understand closures. You can learn these skills in our Swift Syntax course.
Familiarity with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Matrix are also recommended in order to understand the jokes in this course.

Why take this course?
Almsot all Apps consume data from web services, and therefore must use background threads for these lengthy operations.
Even though we provide a black box solution for concurrency in the iOS Networking with Swift course, it is important that you understand how concurrency works in iOS.
This knowledge is vital to deliver Apps that won't be rejected from the App Store and also provide a great user experience.
On top of that, GCD is a frequent topic in iOS job interviews.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Learn To Build Your First Professional iOS App (Eduonix) Eduonix
Eduonix Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Learn To Build Your First Professional iOS App (Eduonix)

iOS 9 is the latest powerful operating system that has been released by Apple, to support under-the-hood operations for its devices. With Apple holding a significant chunk of smartphone and tablet sales, it is important to create apps that cater to the device holders. And with our new mini course, you can learn how to. Learn how to start creating apps for Apple devices, by creating a complete and comprehensive Quiz application, with a full UI and other functionalities.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
NodeJS Unleashed: Mastering Backend Development (Coursera) Coursera
EDUCBA

NodeJS Unleashed: Mastering Backend Development (Coursera)

Embark on a comprehensive Node.js development journey with this course. Starting with the fundamentals, you will establish a solid foundation by mastering Node.js installation and utilizing Visual Studio Code. Later, We will delve into advanced topics, such as asynchronous programming, error handling, CRUD operations, and OS module usage for system information retrieval.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
Smart Device & Mobile Emerging Technologies (Coursera) Coursera
Yonsei University

Smart Device & Mobile Emerging Technologies (Coursera)

In this course, the start-of-the-art smartphone and smart watch technology and components in addition to the global market trends and future forecasts are introduced. Since everybody uses smartphones and smart watches, knowing the details about the most globally used electronic device will definitely help you in all aspects of new product and app design & development, as well as business planning.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Learn Swift Programming Step by Step (Eduonix) Eduonix
Eduonix Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Learn Swift Programming Step by Step (Eduonix)

Swift is one of the fastest growing programming language and is now the most preferred technology for iOS and Mac Development. We at Eduonix have crafted a course to meet the growing demand of Quality Swift Programming for both beginners and Intermediate developers. Our course focuses on the practical use of concepts inherent to Swift programming so even a beginner can start using the language for App Development. This is a free course with a MOOC List coupon.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Mobile Applications Development (saylor.org) Saylor Academy
Saylor.org

Mobile Applications Development (saylor.org)

Technology continues to evolve and provide us with increasingly powerful mobile devices. As a result, applications that can run on a browser must also be written such that they are compatible with mobile devices, the majority of which are now web-enabled. Meanwhile, there is an increasing demand for native applications that can be downloaded to and run on mobile devices. This course will address these trends, teaching you to think about the unique design and deployment issues that must be taken into consideration when developing applications for mobile devices.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera)

An introduction to the Objective-C programming language. This will prepare you for more extensive iOS app development and build a foundation for advanced iOS development topics. Objective-C programming requires a Mac laptop or desktop computer. An iOS device is optional if the learner is willing to working exclusively with the simulator. Some learners have been able to work with an OS X virtual machine on Windows, but explaining how to do that is beyond the scope of this course.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
iOS Interview Prep (Udacity) Udacity
Udacity

iOS Interview Prep (Udacity)

Confidently take on the tech interview. This course is an excellent way to prepare for technical interviews. You’ll experience a mock interview, and review detailed analysis on how to field key industry questions. You’ll review common iOS Developer interview topics ranging from notifications and delegates to the model view controller, and learn best practices for behavioral questions and whiteboard problems.

Self Paced
Self-Paced