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Take Udacity's Grand Central Dispatch course and learn how to prevent background operations from interfering with an app's UI by implementing Apple's GCD framework.

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What's inside

Syllabus

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what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Suitable for iOS app developers who want to tackle background operations efficiently and seamlessly
Teaches GCD, a robust framework for managing concurrent tasks, essential for optimizing app performance
Demos the practical implementation of GCD, empowering developers to handle background tasks effectively
Course overview lacks details on the instructors' expertise and credibility

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Reviews summary

Practical grand central dispatch for ios

According to students, this course offers a clear and concise introduction to Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), making complex topics like concurrent programming in Swift approachable. Many found the hands-on coding and practical examples, such as the image downloading demo, highly effective for understanding and applying GCD principles, particularly for preventing UI blocking. While it provides a solid foundation for beginners and those looking to refresh their knowledge, some learners note it is too basic for advanced users and lacks deeper dives into complex scenarios or more challenging exercises.
Ideal for new or refreshing GCD knowledge.
"Excellent course for getting started with GCD."
"Perfect for brushing up on GCD or learning it from scratch. It is a solid introduction to GCD."
"It's a bit too basic if you already have some concurrency experience, but good for absolute beginners though."
Strong focus on practical, real-world use cases.
"I found the hands-on coding useful for understanding concurrent programming in Swift."
"The image downloading demo was a great practical application that helped solidify my understanding."
"I appreciate the focus on real-world use cases like image downloads. It gave me the confidence to use GCD effectively in my projects."
Simplifies complex GCD concepts effectively.
"The instructor explains complex concepts clearly with practical examples."
"I finally understand GCD after taking this course! The explanations of closures and concurrent vs. serial queues were spot on."
"This course clarifies the nuances of GCD, making it approachable. The short, focused lectures kept me engaged."
Pacing might be fast for complete beginners.
"Found it a bit too fast-paced for a complete beginner, especially the closure part. I had to rewatch some lectures multiple times."
"I struggled with the theoretical foundation. Probably better if you have some Swift basics down before starting this."
Could benefit from more advanced topics and exercises.
"I wished for more advanced topics or debugging strategies, but for an intro, it's very good."
"My main feedback would be to add more challenging exercises beyond just the image download."
"The course is too short and doesn't dive deep enough into complex GCD scenarios. If you want to master GCD, this is not for you."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) with these activities:
Review the basics of Swift
Strengthen your foundation in Swift by reviewing the basics, ensuring you have a solid understanding before diving into GCD.
Browse courses on Swift
Show steps
  • Go over your notes from previous Swift courses or tutorials.
  • Read articles or watch videos about Swift basics.
  • Practice writing simple Swift code snippets.
Organize your notes and materials for the course
Stay organized and enhance your learning by compiling and reviewing your notes, assignments, and other course materials.
Show steps
  • Create a dedicated folder or binder for the course.
  • Organize your notes and materials into sections.
  • Review your materials regularly.
Explore Apple's documentation on GCD
Gain a deeper understanding of GCD's functionality and best practices by referring to the official documentation.
Show steps
  • Visit the Apple Developer website.
  • Search for 'Grand Central Dispatch'.
  • Read through the documentation.
  • Try out the code examples.
Five other activities
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Show all eight activities
Implement a simple app using GCD
Practice the concepts learned in the course and gain hands-on experience in using GCD to manage background operations.
Show steps
  • Create a new Xcode project.
  • Import the Grand Central Dispatch framework into your project.
  • Create a queue for background tasks.
  • Create a task and add it to the queue.
  • Update the UI from the main thread.
Attend a meetup or conference on iOS development
Connect with other iOS developers and learn about industry best practices, including the latest advancements in GCD.
Browse courses on iOS Development
Show steps
  • Find an iOS development meetup or conference in your area.
  • Register for the event.
  • Attend the event.
  • Network with other attendees.
Solve problems on LeetCode related to GCD
Test your understanding of GCD and strengthen your problem-solving skills by practicing problems on LeetCode.
Show steps
  • Visit the LeetCode website.
  • Search for problems related to 'GCD'.
  • Solve the problems.
  • Review your solutions.
Write a blog post about GCD
Share your knowledge of GCD and reinforce your understanding by writing and publishing a blog post.
Show steps
  • Choose a topic to write about.
  • Research the topic.
  • Write the blog post.
  • Publish the blog post.
  • Promote the blog post.
Contribute to an open-source project that uses GCD
Gain practical experience and contribute to the community by participating in an open-source project that leverages GCD.
Show steps
  • Find an open-source project that uses GCD.
  • Identify an area where you can contribute.
  • Fork the project.
  • Make your changes.
  • Submit a pull request.

Career center

Learners who complete Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Reading list

We've selected six books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Grand Central Dispatch (GCD).
Provides a collection of best practices for writing efficient, maintainable, and portable C++ code. It valuable resource for developers who want to improve their C++ coding skills.
Provides a practical guide to concurrency in C++. It covers both the basics of concurrency and advanced topics such as thread synchronization and performance optimization. It good resource for developers who want to learn more about concurrency in C++.
Provides a comprehensive guide to parallel programming in C++. It covers both the basics of parallel programming and advanced topics such as task scheduling and performance optimization. It good resource for developers who want to learn more about parallel programming in C++.
Provides a comprehensive guide to concurrency in Java. It covers both the basics of concurrency and advanced topics such as thread synchronization and performance optimization. It good resource for developers who want to learn more about concurrency in Java.
Provides a practical guide to concurrency in software development. It covers both the basics of concurrency and advanced topics such as thread synchronization and performance optimization. It good resource for developers who want to learn more about concurrency in software development.

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