1.\" Copyright (c) 2008-2012 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. 2.Dd May 1, 2009 3.Dt dispatch 3 4.Os Darwin 5.Sh NAME 6.Nm dispatch 7.Nd the dispatch framework 8.Sh SYNOPSIS 9.Fd #include <dispatch/dispatch.h> 10.Sh DESCRIPTION 11The dispatch framework allows blocks to be scheduled for asynchronous and 12concurrent execution via the core functions described in 13.Xr dispatch_async 3 and 14.Xr dispatch_apply 3 . 15.Pp 16Dispatch queues are the basic units of organization of blocks. Several queues 17are created by default, and applications may create additional queues for their 18own use. See 19.Xr dispatch_queue_create 3 20for more information. 21.Pp 22Dispatch groups allow applications to track the progress of blocks submitted to 23queues and take action when the blocks complete. See 24.Xr dispatch_group_create 3 25for more information. 26.Pp 27The dispatch framework also provides functions to monitor underlying system 28events and automatically submit event handler blocks to dispatch queues. 29.Sh SEE ALSO 30.Xr dispatch_after 3 , 31.Xr dispatch_api 3 , 32.Xr dispatch_apply 3 , 33.Xr dispatch_async 3 , 34.Xr dispatch_data_create 3 , 35.Xr dispatch_group_create 3 , 36.Xr dispatch_io_create 3 , 37.Xr dispatch_io_read 3 , 38.Xr dispatch_object 3 , 39.Xr dispatch_once 3 , 40.Xr dispatch_queue_create 3 , 41.Xr dispatch_semaphore_create 3 , 42.Xr dispatch_source_create 3 , 43.Xr dispatch_time 3 44