Asynchronous programming is mandatory for developing high-performance iOS apps. It's a programming methodology that enables you to perform tasks without interrupting the main application flow. The async/await feature is Swift's advanced performance feature that makes coding asynchrony a lot easier.
The async/await feature came into existence with the release of Swift 5.5. With this feature, developers can use the async keyword before any task to delay the operation and perform other tasks while the operation runs in the background. Here is an example:
func fetchUserData() async -> [String: Any] {
let url = URL(string: "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos")
let request = URLRequest(url: url!)
let (data, _) = try! await URLSession.shared.data(for: request)
return try! JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data) as! [String: Any]
}
The above code block shows an example that fetches user data from the JSONPlaceholder API. The function is declared with the async keyword, indicating that the function should run asynchronously.
Here are some of the benefits of using async in Swift:
The async/await feature has made asynchronous programming in Swift much easier compared to the previous method of using callbacks. By using the async keyword before tasks, you can create high-performance applications with responsive user interfaces.