Swift Guide

Swift Guide

Applies to: Swift 5.9+, iOS/macOS/Server-Side, SPM, Concurrency

Core Principles

1. Value Semantics First: Prefer structs over classes; use classes only when identity or inheritance is required
2. Protocol-Oriented Design: Compose behavior through protocols and extensions rather than class hierarchies
3. Safe Optionals: Unwrap explicitly with guard let or if let; force-unwrap (!) is forbidden outside tests
4. Structured Concurrency: Use async/await and task groups; avoid raw GCD queues for new code
5. Compiler as Ally: Enable strict concurrency checking; treat warnings as errors in CI

Guardrails

Version & Dependencies

• Use Swift 5.9+ with Swift Package Manager (Package.swift)
• Pin package versions with .upToNextMinor(from:) for libraries
• Run swift package resolve before committing after dependency changes
• Commit Package.resolved for applications; omit for libraries

Code Style

• Run swift format or SwiftLint before every commit
• Follow Swift API Design Guidelines
• PascalCase for types, protocols, enums | camelCase for functions, properties, variables
• Prefer trailing closure syntax for the last closure parameter
• Use Self instead of repeating the type name inside type definitions
• Mark classes final by default; remove final only when subclassing is designed for

Optionals

• Use guard let for early exit when the unwrapped value is needed afterward
• Use if let for scoped unwrapping within a branch
• Use nil coalescing (??) for default values; optional chaining (?.) to traverse
• Never force-unwrap (!) outside of tests and IBOutlet declarations
• Use compactMap to filter nil from collections; Optional.map/.flatMap to transform

Concurrency

• Use async/await for all asynchronous operations (no completion handlers in new code)
• Use TaskGroup / ThrowingTaskGroup for parallel fan-out
• Mark UI-bound code with @MainActor; avoid DispatchQueue.main in new code
• Use actor for mutable shared state; prefer actors over locks
• Conform types crossing isolation boundaries to Sendable
• Enable strict concurrency: -strict-concurrency=complete
• Always handle Task.isCancelled or Task.checkCancellation() in long-running work

Protocols

• Define protocols where they are consumed, not where they are implemented
• Keep protocols focused: prefer multiple small protocols over one large one
• Use protocol extensions for default implementations of computed logic
• Use protocol composition (SomeProtocol & AnotherProtocol) for flexible constraints
• Prefer some Protocol (opaque types) over any Protocol when the concrete type is fixed

Project Structure

MyProject/
├── Package.swift              # Manifest (targets, dependencies, platforms)
├── Package.resolved           # Locked versions (commit for apps)
├── Sources/
│   ├── MyProject/             # Main library target
│   │   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── Protocols/
│   │   └── Extensions/        # TypeName+Capability.swift
│   └── MyProjectCLI/          # Executable target (thin entry point)
│       └── main.swift
├── Tests/
│   └── MyProjectTests/
└── README.md

• main.swift or @main struct should be thin: parse arguments, build dependencies, call library code
• Put all business logic in library targets (testable without running the binary)
• One primary type per file, file named after the type

Key Patterns

Optionals: guard let / if let

func processUser(id: String?) -> User {
    guard let id, !id.isEmpty else {
        return User.anonymous
    }
    guard let user = userCache[id] else {
        return fetchUser(id: id)
    }
    return user
}

func displayName(for user: User) -> String {
    if let nickname = user.nickname { return nickname }
    return "\(user.firstName) \(user.lastName)"
}

Result Type for Typed Errors

enum NetworkError: Error, Sendable {
    case invalidURL(String)
    case serverError(statusCode: Int)
    case decodingFailed(underlying: Error)
}

func fetchData(from urlString: String) async -> Result<Data, NetworkError> {
    guard let url = URL(string: urlString) else { return .failure(.invalidURL(urlString)) }
    do {
        let (data, response) = try await URLSession.shared.data(from: url)
        guard let http = response as? HTTPURLResponse, (200..<300).contains(http.statusCode) else {
            return .failure(.serverError(statusCode: 0))
        }
        return .success(data)
    } catch {
        return .failure(.decodingFailed(underlying: error))
    }
}

Protocol Extensions with Defaults

protocol Timestamped {
    var createdAt: Date { get }
    var updatedAt: Date { get }
}

extension Timestamped {
    var isRecent: Bool { updatedAt.timeIntervalSinceNow > -86_400 }
}

// Protocol composition for flexible constraints
func findRecent<T: Identifiable & Timestamped>(_ items: [T]) -> [T] {
    items.filter(\.isRecent)
}

Actor for Shared Mutable State

actor CacheStore<Key: Hashable & Sendable, Value: Sendable> {
    private var storage: [Key: Value] = [:]
    private let maxSize: Int

    init(maxSize: Int = 1000) { self.maxSize = maxSize }

    func get(_ key: Key) -> Value? { storage[key] }

    func set(_ key: Key, value: Value) {
        if storage.count >= maxSize { storage.removeAll() }
        storage[key] = value
    }
}

Async/Await with Task Groups

func fetchAllUsers(ids: [String]) async throws -> [User] {
    try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: User.self) { group in
        for id in ids {
            group.addTask { try await self.fetchUser(id: id) }
        }
        var users: [User] = []
        for try await user in group { users.append(user) }
        return users
    }
}

Sendable Conformance

// Value types: implicitly Sendable when all stored properties are Sendable
struct UserDTO: Sendable { let id: String; let name: String }

// Classes: must be final with immutable properties, or use @unchecked with a lock
final class AppConfig: Sendable { let apiBaseURL: URL; let maxRetries: Int
    init(apiBaseURL: URL, maxRetries: Int = 3) { self.apiBaseURL = apiBaseURL; self.maxRetries = maxRetries }
}

Property Wrappers

@propertyWrapper
struct Clamped<Value: Comparable> {
    private var value: Value
    private let range: ClosedRange<Value>

    var wrappedValue: Value {
        get { value }
        set { value = min(max(newValue, range.lowerBound), range.upperBound) }
    }

    init(wrappedValue: Value, _ range: ClosedRange<Value>) {
        self.range = range
        self.value = min(max(wrappedValue, range.lowerBound), range.upperBound)
    }
}

struct AudioSettings {
    @Clamped(0...100) var volume: Int = 50
    @Clamped(0.5...2.0) var playbackSpeed: Double = 1.0
}

Result Builders for DSLs

@resultBuilder
struct ArrayBuilder<Element> {
    static func buildBlock(_ components: [Element]...) -> [Element] { components.flatMap { $0 } }
    static func buildExpression(_ expression: Element) -> [Element] { [expression] }
    static func buildOptional(_ component: [Element]?) -> [Element] { component ?? [] }
    static func buildEither(first c: [Element]) -> [Element] { c }
    static func buildEither(second c: [Element]) -> [Element] { c }
}

Testing

XCTest with Async Support

import XCTest
@testable import MyProject

final class UserServiceTests: XCTestCase {
    private var sut: UserService!
    private var mockRepo: MockUserRepository!

    override func setUp() { super.setUp(); mockRepo = MockUserRepository(); sut = UserService(repository: mockRepo) }
    override func tearDown() { sut = nil; mockRepo = nil; super.tearDown() }

    func test_fetchUser_withValidID_returnsUser() async throws {
        mockRepo.stubbedUser = User(id: "1", name: "Alice")
        let user = try await sut.fetchUser(id: "1")
        XCTAssertEqual(user.name, "Alice")
    }

    func test_fetchUser_withInvalidID_throwsNotFound() async {
        mockRepo.stubbedError = .notFound
        do {
            _ = try await sut.fetchUser(id: "invalid")
            XCTFail("Expected notFound error")
        } catch let error as ServiceError {
            XCTAssertEqual(error, .notFound)
        } catch {
            XCTFail("Unexpected error: \(error)")
        }
    }
}

Testing Standards

• Test names describe behavior: func test_login_withExpiredToken_refreshesAutomatically()
• Use setUp() / tearDown() for shared test fixtures
• Use protocol-based mocks injected via initializer (no singletons)
• Async tests use async throws directly (no XCTestExpectation for async/await code)
• Coverage target: >80% for business logic, >60% overall
• Test both success and failure paths for every public method

Tooling

Essential Commands

swift build                         # Build all targets
swift test                          # Run all tests
swift test --enable-code-coverage   # With coverage
swift package resolve               # Resolve dependencies
swift package update                # Update dependencies
swift format .                      # Format (swift-format)
swiftlint                           # Lint (SwiftLint)
swiftlint --fix                     # Auto-fix lint issues

SwiftLint Key Rules

# .swiftlint.yml -- enforce these as errors
force_cast: error
force_unwrapping: error
force_try: error
function_body_length:
  warning: 40
  error: 50
cyclomatic_complexity:
  warning: 8
  error: 10

Package.swift Essentials

// swift-tools-version: 5.9
import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "MyProject",
    platforms: [.macOS(.v14), .iOS(.v17)],
    dependencies: [
        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-argument-parser", from: "1.3.0"),
        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-log", from: "1.5.0"),
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(name: "MyProject", dependencies: [
            .product(name: "Logging", package: "swift-log"),
        ], swiftSettings: [
            .enableExperimentalFeature("StrictConcurrency"),
        ]),
        .testTarget(name: "MyProjectTests", dependencies: ["MyProject"]),
    ]
)

References

For detailed patterns and examples, see:

• references/patterns.md -- Actor patterns, protocol composition, async sequences

External References

• The Swift Programming Language
• Swift API Design Guidelines
• Swift Evolution Proposals
• Swift Package Manager Docs
• SwiftLint
• swift-format
• Swift on Server