[ios] Waiting until two async blocks are executed before starting another block

When using GCD, we want to wait until two async blocks are executed and done before moving on to the next steps of execution. What is the best way to do that?

We tried the following, but it doesn't seem to work:

dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
    // block1
});


dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
    // block2
});

// wait until both the block1 and block2 are done before start block3
// how to do that?

dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
    // block3
});

The first answer is essentially correct, but if you want the very simplest way to accomplish the desired result, here's a stand-alone code example demonstrating how to do it with a semaphore (which is also how dispatch groups work behind the scenes, JFYI):

#include <dispatch/dispatch.h>
#include <stdio.h>

main()
{
        dispatch_queue_t myQ = dispatch_queue_create("my.conQ", DISPATCH_QUEUE_CONCURRENT);
        dispatch_semaphore_t mySem = dispatch_semaphore_create(0);

        dispatch_async(myQ, ^{ printf("Hi I'm block one!\n"); sleep(2); dispatch_semaphore_signal(mySem);});
        dispatch_async(myQ, ^{ printf("Hi I'm block two!\n"); sleep(4); dispatch_semaphore_signal(mySem);});
        dispatch_async(myQ, ^{ dispatch_semaphore_wait(mySem, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER); printf("Hi, I'm the final block!\n"); });
        dispatch_main();
}

Answers above are all cool, but they all missed one thing. group executes tasks(blocks) in the thread where it entered when you use dispatch_group_enter/dispatch_group_leave.

- (IBAction)buttonAction:(id)sender {
      dispatch_queue_t demoQueue = dispatch_queue_create("com.demo.group", DISPATCH_QUEUE_CONCURRENT);
      dispatch_async(demoQueue, ^{
        dispatch_group_t demoGroup = dispatch_group_create();
        for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
          dispatch_group_enter(demoGroup);
          [self testMethod:i
                     block:^{
                       dispatch_group_leave(demoGroup);
                     }];
        }

        dispatch_group_notify(demoGroup, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
          NSLog(@"All group tasks are done!");
        });
      });
    }

    - (void)testMethod:(NSInteger)index block:(void(^)(void))completeBlock {
      NSLog(@"Group task started...%ld", index);
      NSLog(@"Current thread is %@ thread", [NSThread isMainThread] ? @"main" : @"not main");
      [NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:1.f];

      if(completeBlock) {
        completeBlock();
      }
    }

this runs in the created concurrent queue demoQueue. If i dont create any queue, it runs in main thread.

- (IBAction)buttonAction:(id)sender {
    dispatch_group_t demoGroup = dispatch_group_create();
    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
      dispatch_group_enter(demoGroup);
      [self testMethod:i
                 block:^{
                   dispatch_group_leave(demoGroup);
                 }];
    }

    dispatch_group_notify(demoGroup, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
      NSLog(@"All group tasks are done!");
    });
    }

    - (void)testMethod:(NSInteger)index block:(void(^)(void))completeBlock {
      NSLog(@"Group task started...%ld", index);
      NSLog(@"Current thread is %@ thread", [NSThread isMainThread] ? @"main" : @"not main");
      [NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:1.f];

      if(completeBlock) {
        completeBlock();
      }
    }

and there's a third way to make tasks executed in another thread:

- (IBAction)buttonAction:(id)sender {
      dispatch_queue_t demoQueue = dispatch_queue_create("com.demo.group", DISPATCH_QUEUE_CONCURRENT);
      //  dispatch_async(demoQueue, ^{
      __weak ViewController* weakSelf = self;
      dispatch_group_t demoGroup = dispatch_group_create();
      for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        dispatch_group_enter(demoGroup);
        dispatch_async(demoQueue, ^{
          [weakSelf testMethod:i
                         block:^{
                           dispatch_group_leave(demoGroup);
                         }];
        });
      }

      dispatch_group_notify(demoGroup, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
        NSLog(@"All group tasks are done!");
      });
      //  });
    }

Of course, as mentioned you can use dispatch_group_async to get what you want.

With Swift 5.1, Grand Central Dispatch offers many ways to solve your problem. According to your needs, you may choose one of the seven patterns shown in the following Playground snippets.

#1. Using DispatchGroup, DispatchGroup's notify(qos:flags:queue:execute:) and DispatchQueue's async(group:qos:flags:execute:)

The Apple Developer Concurrency Programming Guide states about DispatchGroup:

Dispatch groups are a way to block a thread until one or more tasks finish executing. You can use this behavior in places where you cannot make progress until all of the specified tasks are complete. For example, after dispatching several tasks to compute some data, you might use a group to wait on those tasks and then process the results when they are done.

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.company.app.queue", attributes: .concurrent)
let group = DispatchGroup()

queue.async(group: group) {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
}

queue.async(group: group) {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
}

group.notify(queue: queue) {
    print("#3 finished")
}

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

#2. Using DispatchGroup, DispatchGroup's wait(), DispatchGroup's enter() and DispatchGroup's leave()

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.company.app.queue", attributes: .concurrent)
let group = DispatchGroup()

group.enter()
queue.async {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
    group.leave()
}

group.enter()
queue.async {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
    group.leave()
}

queue.async {
    group.wait()
    print("#3 finished")
}

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

Note that you can also mix DispatchGroup wait() with DispatchQueue async(group:qos:flags:execute:) or mix DispatchGroup enter() and DispatchGroup leave() with DispatchGroup notify(qos:flags:queue:execute:).

#3. Using Dispatch?Work?Item?Flags barrier and DispatchQueue's async(group:qos:flags:execute:)

Grand Central Dispatch Tutorial for Swift 4: Part 1/2 article from Raywenderlich.com gives a definition for barriers:

Dispatch barriers are a group of functions acting as a serial-style bottleneck when working with concurrent queues. When you submit a DispatchWorkItem to a dispatch queue you can set flags to indicate that it should be the only item executed on the specified queue for that particular time. This means that all items submitted to the queue prior to the dispatch barrier must complete before the DispatchWorkItem will execute.

Usage:

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.company.app.queue", attributes: .concurrent)

queue.async {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
}

queue.async {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
}

queue.async(flags: .barrier) {
    print("#3 finished")
}

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

#4. Using DispatchWorkItem, Dispatch?Work?Item?Flags's barrier and DispatchQueue's async(execute:)

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.company.app.queue", attributes: .concurrent)

queue.async {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
}

queue.async {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
}

let dispatchWorkItem = DispatchWorkItem(qos: .default, flags: .barrier) {
    print("#3 finished")
}

queue.async(execute: dispatchWorkItem)

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

#5. Using DispatchSemaphore, DispatchSemaphore's wait() and DispatchSemaphore's signal()

Soroush Khanlou wrote the following lines in The GCD Handbook blog post:

Using a semaphore, we can block a thread for an arbitrary amount of time, until a signal from another thread is sent. Semaphores, like the rest of GCD, are thread-safe, and they can be triggered from anywhere. Semaphores can be used when there’s an asynchronous API that you need to make synchronous, but you can’t modify it.

Apple Developer API Reference also gives the following discussion for DispatchSemaphore init(value:?) initializer:

Passing zero for the value is useful for when two threads need to reconcile the completion of a particular event. Passing a value greater than zero is useful for managing a finite pool of resources, where the pool size is equal to the value.

Usage:

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "com.company.app.queue", attributes: .concurrent)
let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0)

queue.async {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
    semaphore.signal()
}

queue.async {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
    semaphore.signal()
}

queue.async {
    semaphore.wait()
    semaphore.wait()    
    print("#3 finished")
}

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

#6. Using OperationQueue and Operation's addDependency(_:)

The Apple Developer API Reference states about Operation?Queue:

Operation queues use the libdispatch library (also known as Grand Central Dispatch) to initiate the execution of their operations.

Usage:

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let operationQueue = OperationQueue()

let blockOne = BlockOperation {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
}

let blockTwo = BlockOperation {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
}

let blockThree = BlockOperation {
    print("#3 finished")
}

blockThree.addDependency(blockOne)
blockThree.addDependency(blockTwo)

operationQueue.addOperations([blockThree, blockTwo, blockOne], waitUntilFinished: false)

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 or
 #2 started
 #1 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

#7. Using OperationQueue and OperationQueue's addBarrierBlock(_:) (requires iOS 13)

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

let operationQueue = OperationQueue()

let blockOne = BlockOperation {
    print("#1 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5)
    print("#1 finished")
}

let blockTwo = BlockOperation {
    print("#2 started")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 2)
    print("#2 finished")
}

operationQueue.addOperations([blockTwo, blockOne], waitUntilFinished: false)
operationQueue.addBarrierBlock {
    print("#3 finished")
}

/*
 prints:
 #1 started
 #2 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 or
 #2 started
 #1 started
 #2 finished
 #1 finished
 #3 finished
 */

Not to say other answers are not great for certain circumstances, but this is one snippet I always user from Google:

- (void)runSigninThenInvokeSelector:(SEL)signInDoneSel {


    if (signInDoneSel) {
        [self performSelector:signInDoneSel];
    }

}

Expanding on Jörn Eyrich answer (upvote his answer if you upvote this one), if you do not have control over the dispatch_async calls for your blocks, as might be the case for async completion blocks, you can use the GCD groups using dispatch_group_enter and dispatch_group_leave directly.

In this example, we're pretending computeInBackground is something we cannot change (imagine it is a delegate callback, NSURLConnection completionHandler, or whatever), and thus we don't have access to the dispatch calls.

// create a group
dispatch_group_t group = dispatch_group_create();

// pair a dispatch_group_enter for each dispatch_group_leave
dispatch_group_enter(group);     // pair 1 enter
[self computeInBackground:1 completion:^{
    NSLog(@"1 done");
    dispatch_group_leave(group); // pair 1 leave
}];

// again... (and again...)
dispatch_group_enter(group);     // pair 2 enter
[self computeInBackground:2 completion:^{
    NSLog(@"2 done");
    dispatch_group_leave(group); // pair 2 leave
}];

// Next, setup the code to execute after all the paired enter/leave calls.
//
// Option 1: Get a notification on a block that will be scheduled on the specified queue:
dispatch_group_notify(group, dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^{
    NSLog(@"finally!");
});

// Option 2: Block an wait for the calls to complete in code already running
// (as cbartel points out, be careful with running this on the main/UI queue!):
//
// dispatch_group_wait(group, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER); // blocks current thread
// NSLog(@"finally!");

In this example, computeInBackground:completion: is implemented as:

- (void)computeInBackground:(int)no completion:(void (^)(void))block {
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^{
        NSLog(@"%d starting", no);
        sleep(no*2);
        block();
    });
}

Output (with timestamps from a run):

12:57:02.574  2 starting
12:57:02.574  1 starting
12:57:04.590  1 done
12:57:06.590  2 done
12:57:06.591  finally!

Accepted answer in swift:

let group = DispatchGroup()

group.async(group: DispatchQueue.global(qos: .default), execute: {
    // block1
    print("Block1")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 5.0)
    print("Block1 End")
})


group.async(group: DispatchQueue.global(qos: .default), execute: {
    // block2
    print("Block2")
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 8.0)
    print("Block2 End")
})

dispatch_group_notify(group, DispatchQueue.global(qos: .default), {
    // block3
    print("Block3")
})

// only for non-ARC projects, handled automatically in ARC-enabled projects.
dispatch_release(group)

I know you asked about GCD, but if you wanted, NSOperationQueue also handles this sort of stuff really gracefully, e.g.:

NSOperationQueue *queue = [[NSOperationQueue alloc] init];

NSOperation *completionOperation = [NSBlockOperation blockOperationWithBlock:^{
    NSLog(@"Starting 3");
}];

NSOperation *operation;

operation = [NSBlockOperation blockOperationWithBlock:^{
    NSLog(@"Starting 1");
    sleep(7);
    NSLog(@"Finishing 1");
}];

[completionOperation addDependency:operation];
[queue addOperation:operation];

operation = [NSBlockOperation blockOperationWithBlock:^{
    NSLog(@"Starting 2");
    sleep(5);
    NSLog(@"Finishing 2");
}];

[completionOperation addDependency:operation];
[queue addOperation:operation];

[queue addOperation:completionOperation];

Swift 4.2 example:

let group = DispatchGroup.group(count: 2)
group.notify(queue: DispatchQueue.main) {
     self.renderingLine = false
     // all groups are done
}
DispatchQueue.main.async {
    self.renderTargetNode(floorPosition: targetPosition, animated: closedContour) {
        group.leave()
        // first done
    }
    self.renderCenterLine(position: targetPosition, animated: closedContour) {
        group.leave()
        // second done
    }
 }

Another GCD alternative is a barrier:

dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_queue_create("com.company.app.queue", DISPATCH_QUEUE_CONCURRENT);

dispatch_async(queue, ^{ 
    NSLog(@"start one!\n");  
    sleep(4);  
    NSLog(@"end one!\n");
});

dispatch_async(queue, ^{  
    NSLog(@"start two!\n");  
    sleep(2);  
    NSLog(@"end two!\n"); 
});

dispatch_barrier_async(queue, ^{  
    NSLog(@"Hi, I'm the final block!\n");  
});

Just create a concurrent queue, dispatch your two blocks, and then dispatch the final block with barrier, which will make it wait for the other two to finish.