Synchronous HTTPS Request in Playground

HttpsPlayground.swift

import Foundation

func getEncoding(response: NSHTTPURLResponse) -> NSStringEncoding {
    guard let encodingName = response.textEncodingName else {
        return NSUTF8StringEncoding
    }
    let encoding = CFStringConvertEncodingToNSStringEncoding(CFStringConvertIANACharSetNameToEncoding(encodingName))
    if encoding != UInt(kCFStringEncodingInvalidId) {
        return encoding
    }
    return NSUTF8StringEncoding
}

let semaphore = dispatch_semaphore_create(0);
let session = NSURLSession.sharedSession()
let task = session.dataTaskWithURL(NSURL(string: "https://www.google.ie/")!)  { (data, response, error) in
    defer {
        dispatch_semaphore_signal(semaphore);
    }
    guard let httpResponse = response as? NSHTTPURLResponse, receivedData = data where error == nil else {
        print("error: not a valid http response")
        return
    }
    switch (httpResponse.statusCode) {
    case 200:
        let encoding = getEncoding(httpResponse)
        var first = String(data: receivedData, encoding: encoding)
    default:
        print("Unexpected response: \(httpResponse.statusCode)")
    }
}
task.resume()
dispatch_semaphore_wait(semaphore, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);