Coding Best Practices

Coding Best Practices Skill

Reviews Swift/iOS code for adherence to modern Swift idioms, Apple platform best practices, architecture patterns, and code quality standards.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks for code review or code quality check
• Mentions "best practices", "clean code", or "refactoring"
• Wants to improve existing code
• Requests architecture or design pattern review
• Asks about Swift idioms or modern patterns
• Wants performance optimization suggestions

Review Process

1. Identify Scope

• If user specifies files/classes, review those
• Otherwise, ask which areas to focus on or review recent changes
• Prioritize ViewModels, business logic, and data layer over simple views

2. Load Reference Patterns

Before starting the review, familiarize yourself with the reference patterns by reading the following files in .claude/skills/coding-best-practices/:

• swift-patterns.md - Optionals, type safety, collections, error handling, naming
• swiftui-patterns.md - State management, view composition, performance
• architecture-patterns.md - MVVM, code organization, memory management, security
• coredata-patterns.md - Core Data best practices, fetching, saving, relationships

3. Review Categories

Apply these review categories based on the code type:

For All Code:

• Swift language idioms (optionals, type safety, collections)
• Naming conventions
• Error handling
• Memory management

For SwiftUI Code:

• State management (@State, @Observable + @Bindable; legacy @StateObject / @ObservedObject pre-iOS 17)
• View composition and performance
• MVVM separation

For ViewModels:

• Business logic placement
• MVVM architecture adherence
• Testability (dependency injection)

For Core Data Code:

• Context management
• Save/fetch patterns
• Relationship handling
• CloudKit integration

4. Review Output Format

Provide review in this structure:

✅ Strengths Found

• List well-implemented patterns
• Highlight good practices
• Acknowledge clean code sections

⚠️ Issues Found

For each issue, use this format:

Category: [Category Name]

[Priority]: [File.swift:line] - [Issue description]

// Current:
[problematic code]

// Suggested:
[improved code]

// Reason: [explanation]

Priority Levels:

• High: Will cause bugs, crashes, or serious issues
• Medium: Inefficient, hard to maintain, or non-idiomatic
• Low: Minor improvements, nice-to-haves

📊 Code Quality Score

Overall: X/10

• Swift Idioms: X/10
• Architecture: X/10
• Error Handling: X/10
• Naming: X/10
• Organization: X/10
• Performance: X/10

📋 Recommendations

1. High Priority: [Critical issues]
2. Medium Priority: [Improvements]
3. Low Priority: [Nice-to-haves]

🔧 Quick Wins

List 3-5 easy fixes that provide immediate value

Review Checklist

Use this comprehensive checklist during review:

Swift Language

• No force unwrapping unless intentional
• Proper optional handling (guard, if let, ??)
• Enums instead of string/int constants
• Functional collection operations (map, filter, etc.)
• Proper error handling (not silent try?)
• Clear, descriptive naming

SwiftUI

• Correct property wrapper usage
• No ViewModels created in body
• Views broken into components
• No heavy computation in body
• Single source of truth
• Reaches for the modern baseline APIs (see Modern SwiftUI Baseline below)

Architecture

• MVVM separation maintained
• Business logic in ViewModels
• UI logic in Views only
• Proper code organization with MARK
• Private by default

Core Data

• Using shared context
• hasChanges check before save
• Typed fetch requests
• Safe property access
• Proper error handling

Memory Management

• [weak self] in escaping closures
• Weak delegates
• No retain cycles

Testing & Security

• Testable code structure
• Dependency injection
• No hardcoded secrets
• Input validation
• Safe logging

Modern SwiftUI Baseline (What to Reach For Today)

The default APIs to expect in a healthy SwiftUI codebase. During review, flag code still on the legacy column — each line is: reach for this / when. Version floors in parentheses; anything unmarked is broadly available.

Structure & navigation

• NavigationStack / NavigationSplitView — NavigationView is deprecated; value-based links + navigationDestination (iOS 16+)

State & data flow

• @Observable over ObservableObject — per-property invalidation means fewer re-renders, no @Published (iOS 17+)
• @State lazily initializes @Observable classes (behavior backported to iOS 17) — delete double-initialization workarounds and "cheap placeholder default" hacks
• @Previewable inside #Preview — use @State directly in a preview without a wrapper view (Xcode 16+)

Presentation & input

• presentationDetents for resizable sheets — half-height/custom stops instead of full-screen covers (iOS 16+)
• Item-binding alert(_:item:) / confirmationDialog(_:item:) — prefer over isPresented + a side-car state variable; the item carries the context (WWDC26)
• searchable with scopes, tokens, and suggestions + searchFocused for programmatic search-field focus — structured search over hand-rolled filter bars
• @FocusState + defaultFocus + focused(_:equals:) for focus management; onKeyPress for hardware-keyboard handling
• Spring presets .smooth / .snappy / .bouncy — sensible spring defaults before hand-tuning stiffness/damping (iOS 17+)

Scrolling

• The scroll suite: .scrollTargetBehavior(.paging) / .viewAligned, scrollPosition, onScrollGeometryChange / onScrollVisibilityChange — paging, position control, and scroll-driven effects without GeometryReader + preference-key plumbing (iOS 17+)

Content & media

• ShareLink + Transferable — system share sheet from a declarative type conformance (iOS 16+)
• PhotosPicker — out-of-process photo selection, no permission prompt (iOS 16+)
• AsyncImage participates in HTTP caching by default (WWDC26); set asyncImageURLSession for custom cache/auth policies

Lists & collections

• reorderable() on ForEach and swipeActions outside List — drag-reorder and swipe in lazy stacks/grids too (WWDC26)

Layout, effects & design

• visualEffect over GeometryReader for visual-only geometry (scroll parallax, proximity scaling) — reads geometry without changing layout (iOS 17+)
• glassEffect() + ToolbarSpacer + bottom-aligned search for the system design language (iOS 26+) — route deep Liquid Glass work to design/liquid-glass
• @ContentBuilder as the ViewBuilder evolution — one builder for content usable across views, widgets, and app intents (WWDC26)

Example Review Output

Reviewing: ExpenseViewModel.swift

✅ Strengths Found
- Excellent use of @Published properties
- Clean separation between public and private methods
- Good error handling with custom error types
- Proper use of guard statements for early returns

⚠️ Issues Found

**Category: Optionals Handling**

**High Priority: ExpenseViewModel.swift:45** - Force unwrapping
// Current:
let payer = expense.payer!

// Suggested:
guard let payer = expense.payer else {
    print("Expense has no payer")
    return
}

// Reason: Force unwrapping will crash if payer is nil. Use guard for safe unwrapping.

**Category: Core Data**

**Medium Priority: ExpenseViewModel.swift:89** - Saving without checking hasChanges
// Current:
try? context.save()

// Suggested:
if context.hasChanges {
    do {
        try context.save()
    } catch {
        print("Failed to save: \(error.localizedDescription)")
    }
}

// Reason: Check hasChanges to avoid unnecessary saves. Handle errors properly.

**Category: Collections**

**Low Priority: ExpenseViewModel.swift:123** - Inefficient filtering
// Current:
let found = expenses.filter { $0.id == targetId }.first

// Suggested:
let found = expenses.first { $0.id == targetId }

// Reason: first(where:) stops at first match, filter processes entire array.

📊 Code Quality Score
**Overall: 7/10**

- Swift Idioms: 6/10 (force unwrapping, inefficient collection usage)
- Architecture: 9/10 (excellent MVVM separation)
- Error Handling: 7/10 (using try? too often)
- Naming: 9/10 (clear, descriptive names)
- Organization: 8/10 (good marks, could improve grouping)
- Performance: 7/10 (some inefficient patterns)

📋 Recommendations
1. **High Priority**: Remove all force unwrapping (5 instances found)
2. **Medium Priority**: Improve error handling (don't swallow errors with try?)
3. **Low Priority**: Use first(where:) instead of filter().first

🔧 Quick Wins
1. Replace `expense.payer!` with safe unwrapping (ExpenseViewModel.swift:45)
2. Add hasChanges check before context.save() (ExpenseViewModel.swift:89)
3. Use first(where:) for finding items (ExpenseViewModel.swift:123)

Tips for Effective Reviews

Be Constructive

• Provide clear code examples for every issue
• Explain WHY, not just WHAT
• Be educational, not judgmental

Consider Context

• Some patterns are valid in certain scenarios
• Balance idealism with pragmatism
• Consider project constraints

Actionable Feedback

• Provide specific line numbers
• Show exact code to change
• Explain expected behavior

References

• Swift API Design Guidelines
• Swift.org Documentation
• SwiftUI Best Practices
• Core Data Programming Guide

Notes

• Read the reference pattern files for detailed examples
• Focus on the most impactful improvements first
• Provide code examples for all suggested changes
• Reference exact file locations (filename.swift:lineNumber)
• Be thorough but constructive