Swift Conventions — Expert Decisions

Expert decision frameworks for Swift choices that require experience. Claude knows Swift syntax — this skill provides the judgment calls.

Decision Trees

Struct vs Class

Need shared mutable state across app?
├─ YES → Class (singleton pattern, session managers)
└─ NO
   └─ Need inheritance hierarchy?
      ├─ YES → Class (UIKit subclasses, NSObject interop)
      └─ NO
         └─ Data model or value type?
            ├─ YES → Struct (User, Configuration, Point)
            └─ NO → Consider what identity means
               ├─ Same instance matters → Class
               └─ Same values matters → Struct

The non-obvious trade-off: Structs with reference-type properties (arrays, classes inside) lose copy-on-write benefits. A struct containing [UIImage] copies the array reference, not images — mutations affect all "copies."

async/await vs Combine vs Callbacks

Is this a one-shot operation? (fetch user, save file)
├─ YES → async/await (cleaner, better stack traces)
└─ NO → Is it a stream of values over time?
   ├─ YES
   │  └─ Need transformations/combining?
   │     ├─ Heavy transforms → Combine (map, filter, merge)
   │     └─ Simple iteration → AsyncStream
   └─ NO → Must support iOS 14?
      ├─ YES → Combine or callbacks
      └─ NO → async/await with continuation

When Combine still wins: Multiple publishers needing combineLatest, merge, or debounce. Converting this to pure async/await requires manual coordination that Combine handles elegantly.

@MainActor Placement

Is every public method UI-related?
├─ YES → @MainActor on class/struct
└─ NO
   └─ Does it manage UI state? (@Published, bindings)
      ├─ YES → @MainActor on class, nonisolated for non-UI methods
      └─ NO
         └─ Only some methods touch UI?
            ├─ YES → @MainActor on specific methods
            └─ NO → No @MainActor needed

Critical: @Published properties MUST be updated on MainActor. SwiftUI observes on main thread — background updates cause undefined behavior, not just warnings.

TaskGroup vs async let

Number of concurrent operations known at compile time?
├─ YES (2-5 fixed operations) → async let
│  Example: async let user = fetchUser()
│           async let posts = fetchPosts()
│
└─ NO (dynamic count, array of IDs) → TaskGroup
   Example: for id in userIds { group.addTask { ... } }

async let gotcha: All async let values MUST be awaited before scope ends. Forgetting to await silently cancels the task — no error, just missing data.

NEVER Do

Memory & Retain Cycles

NEVER capture self strongly in stored closures:

// ❌ Retain cycle — ViewModel never deallocates
class ViewModel {
    var onUpdate: (() -> Void)?

    func setup() {
        onUpdate = { self.refresh() } // self → onUpdate → self
    }
}

// ✅ Break with weak capture
onUpdate = { [weak self] in self?.refresh() }

NEVER use unowned unless you can PROVE the reference outlives the closure. When in doubt, use weak. The crash from dangling unowned is worse than the nil-check cost.

NEVER forget Timer invalidation:

// ❌ Timer retains target — object never deallocates
timer = Timer.scheduledTimer(target: self, selector: #selector(tick), ...)

// ✅ Block-based with weak capture + invalidate in deinit
timer = Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 1, repeats: true) { [weak self] _ in
    self?.tick()
}
deinit { timer?.invalidate() }

Concurrency

NEVER access @Published from background:

// ❌ Undefined behavior — may work sometimes, crash others
Task.detached {
    viewModel.isLoading = false // Background thread!
}

// ✅ Explicit MainActor
Task { @MainActor in
    viewModel.isLoading = false
}

NEVER use Task { } for fire-and-forget without understanding cancellation:

// ❌ Task inherits actor context — may block UI
func buttonTapped() {
    Task { await heavyOperation() } // Runs on MainActor!
}

// ✅ Explicit detachment for background work
func buttonTapped() {
    Task.detached(priority: .userInitiated) {
        await heavyOperation()
    }
}

NEVER assume Task.cancel() stops execution immediately. Cancellation is cooperative — your code must check Task.isCancelled or use try Task.checkCancellation().

Optionals

NEVER force-unwrap in production code except:

1. @IBOutlet — set by Interface Builder
2. URL(string: "https://known-valid.com";)! — compile-time known strings
3. fatalError paths where crash is correct behavior

NEVER use implicitly unwrapped optionals (var user: User!) for regular properties. Only valid for:

• @IBOutlet connections
• Two-phase initialization where value is set immediately after init

Protocol Design

NEVER make protocols require AnyObject unless you need weak references:

// ❌ Unnecessarily restricts to classes
protocol DataProvider: AnyObject {
    func fetchData() -> Data
}

// ✅ Only require AnyObject for delegates that need weak reference
protocol ViewModelDelegate: AnyObject { // Needed for weak var delegate
    func viewModelDidUpdate()
}

NEVER add default implementations that change protocol semantics:

// ❌ Dangerous — conformers might not override
protocol Validator {
    func validate() -> Bool
}
extension Validator {
    func validate() -> Bool { true } // Silent "always valid"
}

// ✅ Make requirement obvious or use different name
extension Validator {
    func isAlwaysValid() -> Bool { true } // Clear this is a default
}

iOS-Specific Patterns

Dependency Injection in ViewModels

// ✅ Protocol-based for testability
protocol UserServiceProtocol {
    func fetchUser(id: String) async throws -> User
}

@MainActor
final class UserViewModel: ObservableObject {
    @Published private(set) var user: User?
    @Published private(set) var error: Error?

    private let userService: UserServiceProtocol

    init(userService: UserServiceProtocol = UserService()) {
        self.userService = userService
    }
}

Why default parameter: Production code uses real service, tests inject mock. No container framework needed for most apps.

Property Wrapper Selection

The StateObject vs ObservedObject trap: Using @ObservedObject for a locally-created object causes recreation on every view update — losing all state.

Error Handling Strategy

// Domain-specific errors with recovery info
enum UserError: LocalizedError {
    case notFound(userId: String)
    case unauthorized
    case networkFailure(underlying: Error)

    var errorDescription: String? {
        switch self {
        case .notFound(let id): return "User \(id) not found"
        case .unauthorized: return "Please log in again"
        case .networkFailure: return "Connection failed"
        }
    }

    var recoverySuggestion: String? {
        switch self {
        case .notFound: return "Check the user ID and try again"
        case .unauthorized: return "Your session expired"
        case .networkFailure: return "Check your internet connection"
        }
    }
}

Performance Traps

Copy-on-Write Gotchas

// ✅ COW works — array copied only on mutation
var a = [1, 2, 3]
var b = a        // No copy yet
b.append(4)      // Now b gets its own copy

// ❌ COW broken — class inside struct
struct Container {
    var items: NSMutableArray // Reference type!
}
var c1 = Container(items: NSMutableArray())
var c2 = c1      // Both point to same NSMutableArray
c2.items.add(1)  // Mutates c1.items too!

Lazy vs Computed

// lazy: Computed ONCE, stored
lazy var dateFormatter: DateFormatter = {
    let f = DateFormatter()
    f.dateStyle = .medium
    return f
}()

// computed: Computed EVERY access
var formattedDate: String {
    dateFormatter.string(from: date) // Cheap, uses cached formatter
}

Rule: Expensive object creation → lazy. Simple derived values → computed.

String Performance

// ❌ O(n) for each concatenation in loop
var result = ""
for item in items {
    result += item.description // Creates new String each time
}

// ✅ O(n) total
var result = ""
result.reserveCapacity(estimatedLength)
for item in items {
    result.append(item.description)
}

// ✅ Best for joining
let result = items.map(\.description).joined(separator: ", ")

Quick Reference

Access Control Decision

Default to most restrictive. Start private, widen only when needed.

Naming Quick Check

• Types: PascalCase nouns — UserViewModel, NetworkError
• Protocols: PascalCase — capability (-able/-ible) or description
• Functions: camelCase verbs — fetchUser(), configure(with:)
• Booleans: is/has/should/can prefix — isLoading, hasContent
• Factory methods: make prefix — makeUserViewModel()