What is a `Task` and how is it different from a `Thread`?

Instruments diagnoses memory issues through the Leaks instrument for automated heap scans and the Allocations instrument with Mark Generation for tracking persistent abandoned memory.
Tasks support cooperative cancellation — you cancel from outside, and the task must check for cancellation and stop itself.
A Task is Swift's unit of async work.
Delegation is a pattern where one object hands off responsibility to another through a protocol, letting a child communicate back to its owner without knowing its concrete type.

Answer: A Task is Swift's unit of async work. Unlike threads, tasks are lightweight, managed by the Swift runtime, and can be suspended without blocking an underlying thread.

	`Task`	`Thread`
Cost	Lightweight	Heavy (~512KB stack)
Managed by	Swift runtime	OS
Suspension	Yes (non-blocking)	No (blocks thread)
Cancellation	Built-in	Manual

Code Example:

// Creating a task
let task = Task {
    let data = try await fetchData()
    await MainActor.run { updateUI(with: data) }
}

// Cancelling it
task.cancel()

// Task inherits priority and actor context from where it's created
// Use Task.detached to explicitly break that inheritance
Task.detached(priority: .background) {
    await expensiveBackgroundWork()
}