Do I need to record lists of internal closures in order to "self-preserve" myself as "weak" or "inept"?

Question

If I pass the closure to a function like this:

 someFunctionWithTrailingClosure { [weak self] in
     anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure { [weak self] in 
         self?.doSomething()
     }
 }

If I declare myself as [weak self]in the capture list someFunctionWithTrailingClosurewithout re-declaring it as weakagain in the capture list anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure, then it selfbecomes a type Optional, but the Link weakalso becomes ?

Thank!

Answer 1

[weak self]in anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosurenot required.

You can empirically verify this:

class Experiment {

    func someFunctionWithTrailingClosure(closure: () -> ()) {
        print("starting someFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, Int64(1 * Double(NSEC_PER_SEC))), dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
            closure()
            print("finishing someFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        }
    }

    func anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure(closure: () -> ()) {
        print("starting anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, Int64(1 * Double(NSEC_PER_SEC))), dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
            closure()
            print("finishing anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        }
    }

    func doSomething() {
        print("doSomething")
    }

    func testCompletionHandlers() {
        someFunctionWithTrailingClosure { [weak self] in
            self?.anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure { // [weak self] in
                self?.doSomething()
            }
        }
    }

    // go ahead and add `deinit`, so I can see when this is deallocated

    deinit {
        print("deinit")
    }
}

And then:

func performExperiment() {
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(QOS_CLASS_UTILITY, 0)) { 
        let obj = Experiment()

        obj.testCompletionHandlers()

        // sleep long enough for `anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure` to start, but not yet call its completion handler

        NSThread.sleepForTimeInterval(1.5) 
    }
}

, , doSomething deinit , anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure .

, [weak self] anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure, , .

Answer 2

Swift 4.2:

public class CaptureListExperiment {

    public init() {

    }

    func someFunctionWithTrailingClosure(closure: @escaping () -> ()) {
        print("starting someFunctionWithTrailingClosure")

        DispatchQueue.global().asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 1) {
            closure()
            print("finishing someFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        }
    }

    func anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure(closure: @escaping () -> ()) {
        print("starting anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure")

        DispatchQueue.global().asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 1) {
            closure()
            print("finishing anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure")
        }
    }

    func doSomething() {
        print("doSomething")
    }

    public func testCompletionHandlers() {
        someFunctionWithTrailingClosure { [weak self] in
            guard let self = self else { return }
            self.anotherFunctionWithTrailingClosure { // [weak self] in
                self.doSomething()
            }
        }
    }

    // go ahead and add 'deinit', so I can see when this is deallocated

    deinit {
        print("deinit")
    }
}

Playgorund:

func performExperiment() {

    let obj = CaptureListExperiment()

    obj.testCompletionHandlers()
    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 1.3)
}

performExperiment()