Sample CodeiOS, iPadOS, Mac Catalyst, macOS, tvOSReviewed 2026-07-21View on Apple Developer

Combining blit and compute operations in a single pass

At a glance

Item Summary
Purpose Run concurrent blit commands and then a compute dispatch in a single pass with a unified compute encoder.
App architecture A C/Objective-C header, Metal, Objective-C sample with the source-visible chain mainViewControllerMetal4RendererMetal / metal_stdlib APIs.
Main patterns View-controller organization, Delegate or data-source callbacks
Project style 13 scanned source file(s) across C/Objective-C header, Metal, Objective-C, organized around ranked entry, type, and file boundaries.
Execution model No structured execution marker indexed; callback threading requires source review.
State/event model No structured observation or publisher-scheduling marker indexed.
Key frameworks/packages UIKit, Cocoa, Foundation, Metal, metal_stdlib; these are source dependencies, not architecture labels.

Project structure

Source bundle/
├── Application/
│   ├── main.m
│   ├── AppDelegate.h
│   ├── AppDelegate.m
│   ├── ViewController.h
│   ├── ViewController.m
│   ├── WindowSceneDelegate.h
│   └── WindowSceneDelegate.m
└── Renderer/
    ├── Metal4Renderer.h
    ├── Metal4Renderer.m
    ├── Shaders.metal
    └── Utility/
        ├── TGAImage.h
        └── TGAImage.m

Structure observations

  • Architecturally prominent files are ranked from entry points and role-named declarations; resource-only paths are omitted.
  • Primary languages: C/Objective-C header, Metal, Objective-C.
  • The verified tree contains 9 project/configuration file(s) and 6 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

Reference code

Application/main.m:18 — architecture anchor

#if defined(TARGET_IOS) || defined(TARGET_TVOS)
int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {

    @autoreleasepool {
        return UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, NSStringFromClass([AppDelegate class]));
    }
}
#endif

Interpretation

The arrows summarize the source-visible entry, role-named types or folders, and framework direction; when nodes come from structural folders, the sequence is a high-level interpretation rather than proof that every adjacent node calls the next. Ownership is claimed only where the next section cites a stored property or assignment. The diagram is intentionally limited to the dominant path into Metal.

Ownership and state

Ownership evidence

Application/WindowSceneDelegate.h:13 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

@interface WindowSceneDelegate : UIResponder <UIWindowSceneDelegate>

@property (nonatomic, strong) UIWindow *window;

@end
Owner Object or state Relationship Mutation authority
WindowSceneDelegate UIWindow (window) retains or copies an assigned value Header-visible collaborators
TGAImage NSUInteger (width) stores or receives The declaring implementation writes; property clients read
TGAImage NSUInteger (height) stores or receives The declaring implementation writes; property clients read
TGAImage NSData (data) stores or receives The declaring implementation writes; property clients read

Composition arrows indicate a source-visible construction expression or locally owned value state; aggregation means the owner stores or receives a dependency without proving exclusive lifetime ownership.

Concurrency, scheduling, and thread safety

Evidence limit: actor isolation, async/await, or Task creation does not by itself prove background-thread execution; Sendable conformance alone does not prove thread-safe mutation.

No source-visible execution, scheduling, or synchronization boundary was found in the indexed source.

@MainActor/MainActor.run, DispatchQueue.main, and RunLoop.main are reported as distinct isolation, queue, and event-loop mechanisms. A plain Task is kept separate from Task.detached; neither is labeled as a background thread.

State propagation, frameworks, and dependencies

Evidence limit: an import proves a source-level compilation dependency at the cited line; it does not prove runtime use, architectural adoption, or whether a Swift package is a direct application dependency.

Category Mechanism or module Verified role Evidence
Source import UIKit The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Application/AppDelegate.h:8
Source import Cocoa The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Application/main.m:13
Source import Foundation The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.h:8
Source import Metal The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Renderer/Metal4Renderer.m:12
Source import metal_stdlib The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Renderer/Shaders.metal:8
Source import simd The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. Renderer/ShaderTypes.h:11

receive(on:) describes downstream delivery scheduling, while subscribe(on:) describes upstream subscription/request/cancel scheduling. An import Combine alone establishes neither behavior nor a Store, reducer, Redux, or other application architecture.

Class and protocol design

Application/AppDelegate.h:10 — representative type boundary

@interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate>

@end
Type Responsibility Depends on or conforms to
AppDelegate Receives callback-driven events UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate
ViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination PlatformViewController
WindowSceneDelegate Receives callback-driven events UIResponder, UIWindowSceneDelegate
Metal4Renderer Owns drawing, GPU, or presentation processing NSObject, MTKViewDelegate
RasterizerData Represents feature data Concrete collaborators/imported frameworks
TGAImage Defines a feature-specific type boundary NSObject

No local protocol conformance is claimed as protocol-oriented design; external framework conformances are listed only as dependencies.

Access control

Symbol Access Verified effect Likely rationale
window (Application/WindowSceneDelegate.h:13) header-visible The declaration is exposed to translation units that import the header. Inference: declare a contract needed by other Objective-C/C translation units.
width (Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.h:21) header-visible The declaration is exposed to translation units that import the header. Inference: declare a contract needed by other Objective-C/C translation units.
height (Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.h:24) header-visible The declaration is exposed to translation units that import the header. Inference: declare a contract needed by other Objective-C/C translation units.
data (Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.h:31) header-visible The declaration is exposed to translation units that import the header. Inference: declare a contract needed by other Objective-C/C translation units.

Reference code

Application/WindowSceneDelegate.h:13 — representative boundary

@interface WindowSceneDelegate : UIResponder <UIWindowSceneDelegate>

@property (nonatomic, strong) UIWindow *window;

@end

Swift declarations without a modifier are internal; explicit private, fileprivate, private(set), public, or open entries above are interpreted by language semantics. Objective-C/C samples instead rely on header and implementation boundaries, which are not equivalent to Swift lexical privacy.

Logic ownership and placement

Logic Owning type or file Placement rationale
View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination ViewController The source’s Controller suffix makes this role explicit.
Receives callback-driven events AppDelegate, WindowSceneDelegate The source’s Delegate suffix makes this role explicit.
Owns drawing, GPU, or presentation processing Metal4Renderer The source’s Renderer suffix makes this role explicit.

Design patterns

Pattern Source evidence Purpose or tradeoff
View-controller organization Application/ViewController.h:21 A controller is the verified coordination boundary; this is MVC-style only where a separate model is present.
Delegate or data-source callbacks Application/AppDelegate.h:10 Callback protocols invert event delivery back into the sample’s owner.

Main application flow

Reference code

Renderer/Metal4Renderer.m:440createResidencySets()

- (void) createResidencySets
{
    NSError *error = NULL;

    // Create a communal residency set for resources the app needs for every frame.
    MTLResidencySetDescriptor *residencySetDescriptor;
    residencySetDescriptor = [MTLResidencySetDescriptor new];
    residencySet = [device newResidencySetWithDescriptor:residencySetDescriptor
                                                   error:&error];

    NSAssert(nil != residencySet,
             @"The device can't create a residency set due to: %@", error);

    // Add the communal residency set to the command queue.
    [commandQueue addResidencySet:residencySet];

    // Add the communal resources to the residency set.
    [residencySet addAllocation:backgroundImageTexture];
    [residencySet addAllocation:chyronTexture];
    [residencySet addAllocation:compositeColorTexture];
    [residencySet addAllocation:compositeGrayscaleTexture];
    [residencySet addAllocation:vertexDataBuffer];
    [residencySet addAllocation:viewportSizeBuffer];
    [residencySet commit];

    // Create per-frame allocators and residency sets.
    for (uint32_t i = 0; i < kMaxFramesInFlight; i++)
    {
        commandAllocators[i] = [device newCommandAllocator];
        NSAssert(nil != commandAllocators[i],
                 @"The device can't create an allocator set due to: %@", error);
    }
}

Naming conventions

  • Types: Controller: ViewController; Delegate: AppDelegate, WindowSceneDelegate; Renderer: Metal4Renderer.
  • Protocols: no local protocol declaration in the scanned source.
  • Methods: application, viewDidLoad, scene, sceneDidDisconnect, initWithView.
  • Files: Application/AppDelegate.h, Application/AppDelegate.m, Application/ViewController.h, Application/ViewController.m, Application/WindowSceneDelegate.h, Application/WindowSceneDelegate.m.

Architecture takeaways

  • main is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
  • Framework work reaches UIKit, Cocoa, Metal, metal_stdlib through a deliberately small high-level chain; the detailed API graph remains inside the cited implementation files.
  • Stored-property evidence identifies lifecycle collaboration; it does not by itself prove exclusive object ownership.
  • Access-control conclusions separate verified language visibility from the likely design rationale.
  • The source does not justify labeling the design protocol-oriented.

Source map

Source file Relevant symbols
Application/main.m Cited implementation, Cocoa, Feature implementation
Application/WindowSceneDelegate.h Cited implementation, window, WindowSceneDelegate
Application/AppDelegate.h AppDelegate, Cited implementation, UIKit
Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.h width, height, data, Foundation, TGAImage
Application/ViewController.h ViewController
Renderer/Metal4Renderer.m Metal, Metal4Renderer
Renderer/Shaders.metal metal_stdlib, RasterizerData
Renderer/ShaderTypes.h simd, Feature implementation
Application/AppDelegate.m AppDelegate
Application/ViewController.m ViewController
Application/WindowSceneDelegate.m WindowSceneDelegate
Renderer/Metal4Renderer.h Metal4Renderer
Renderer/Utility/TGAImage.m TGAImage