Busy wait vs asynchronous callback

gistfile1.rb

# I think the only way to do what you want is to use some sort of busy-wait. 
# However, I think it would be better for your ModelHelper to use callbacks instead.
class ModelHelper

  # Using busy-wait.
  def self.find_other_thing_by_id_busy(id)
    other_thing = nil
    
    make_async_request(id) do |response|
      other_thing = OtherThing.new(response)
    end

    while other_thing.nil?
    end
    return other_thing
  end

  # Using a callback.
  def self.find_other_thing_by_id_with_callback(id, &block)
    make_async_request(id) do |response|
      block.call(OtherThing.new(response))
    end
  end
end

# Using the busy-wait method:
other_thing = ModelHelper.find_other_thing_by_id_busy(id)
other_thing.profit()

# Using the callback method:
ModelHelper.find_other_thing_by_id_with_callback(id) do |other_thing|
  other_thing.profit()
end

I'm not sure that the busy version works. When I tried this, the lines at [13..14] just cause the app to lock up and the thread from make_async_request [9..11] never gets a chance to run. At least, that appears to be the situation in the RubyMotion simulator, which is where I'm trying to get this to work.

Another change worth noting: sharing local variables between the BW::HTTP.get thread and the mainline is paved with danger. However, if you put the shared vars into a class (essentially a struct) and share that, then RubyMotion stops core dumping and seems to work fine.