Why use AFNetworking instead of dispatch_async?
afnetworking, ios, networking, objective-c
Solution
This is answered in detail at the top of the AFNetworking FAQ:
While `NSURLConnection` provides `+sendAsynchronousRequest:queue:completionHandler:` and `+sendSynchronousRequest:returningResponse:error:`, there are many benefits to using AFNetworking:
- `AFURLConnectionOperation` and its subclasses inherit from `NSOperation`, which allows requests to be cancelled, > suspended / resumed, and managed by an `NSOperationQueue`.
- `AFURLConnectionOperation` also allows you to easily stream uploads and downloads, handle authentication challenges, > monitor upload and download progress, and control the caching behavior or requests.
- `AFHTTPRequestOperation` and its subclasses distinguish between successful and unsuccessful requests based on HTTP > status codes and content type.
- AFNetworking includes media-specific request operations that transform `NSData` into more useable formats, like JSON, > XML, images, and property lists.
- `AFHTTPClient` provides a convenient interface to interact with web services, including default headers, authentication, > network reachability monitoring, batched operations, query string parameter serialization, and multipart form requests.
- `UIImageView+AFNetworking` adds a convenient way to asynchronously loads images.
Problem
Why should one use AFNetworking's async methods, when an async call can be done simply with GCD? ``` dispatch_async(bgQ, ^{ //NSURLConnection code dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{ //UI code }); }); ```