300 lines
6.8 KiB
Markdown
300 lines
6.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: swift
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description: "Language-specific super-code guidelines for swift."
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risk: safe
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source: community
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date_added: "2026-06-16"
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---
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# Swift: Idiomatic Efficiency Reference
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## Table of Contents
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1. [Optionals](#optionals)
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2. [Collections & Functional Transforms](#collections)
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3. [Value vs Reference Types](#value-types)
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4. [Error Handling](#errors)
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5. [Concurrency](#concurrency)
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6. [Protocol-Oriented Design](#protocols)
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7. [Anti-patterns specific to Swift](#antipatterns)
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---
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## 1. Optionals {#optionals}
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```swift
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// ❌ Force unwrap
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let name = user.name!
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// ✅ — guard or if-let
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guard let name = user.name else { return }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Nested if-let pyramid
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if let user = fetchUser() {
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if let address = user.address {
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if let city = address.city {
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display(city)
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}
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}
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}
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// ✅ — chained optional binding
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if let city = fetchUser()?.address?.city {
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display(city)
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}
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// or guard-let for early exit
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guard let city = fetchUser()?.address?.city else { return }
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display(city)
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Ternary for default
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let name = user.name != nil ? user.name! : "Unknown"
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// ✅
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let name = user.name ?? "Unknown"
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Optional map when if-let is clearer for side effects
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user.name.map { display($0) }
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// ✅ — map for transforms, if-let for side effects
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let upper = user.name.map { $0.uppercased() }
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if let name = user.name { display(name) }
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```
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---
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## 2. Collections & Functional Transforms {#collections}
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```swift
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// ❌ Imperative filter + map
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var result: [String] = []
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for item in items {
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if item.isActive { result.append(item.name.uppercased()) }
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}
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// ✅
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let result = items
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.filter(\.isActive)
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.map { $0.name.uppercased() }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Manual dictionary construction
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var dict: [String: User] = [:]
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for user in users { dict[user.id] = user }
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// ✅
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let dict = Dictionary(uniqueKeysWithValues: users.map { ($0.id, $0) })
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// or with possible duplicates:
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let dict = Dictionary(grouping: users, by: \.department)
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Checking isEmpty then accessing first
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if !items.isEmpty { process(items[0]) }
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// ✅
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if let first = items.first { process(first) }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Index-based loop
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for i in 0..<items.count { process(items[i]) }
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// ✅
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for item in items { process(item) }
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// with index:
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for (i, item) in items.enumerated() { process(i, item) }
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```
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**Use key paths (`\.isActive`) as closure shorthand where supported.**
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---
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## 3. Value vs Reference Types {#value-types}
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```swift
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// ❌ Class for plain data (reference semantics where value semantics suffice)
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class Point {
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var x: Double
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var y: Double
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init(x: Double, y: Double) { self.x = x; self.y = y }
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}
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// ✅
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struct Point { var x, y: Double }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Large struct copied repeatedly (performance hit)
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struct HugeData { var buffer: [UInt8] /* thousands of elements */ }
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func process(_ data: HugeData) { ... } // copies entire buffer
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// ✅ — use class or pass inout for mutation
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func process(_ data: inout HugeData) { ... }
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// or use copy-on-write wrapper for large value types
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```
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**Default to `struct`. Use `class` when you need identity, inheritance, or reference semantics.**
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---
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## 4. Error Handling {#errors}
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```swift
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// ❌ Using optionals to mask errors
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func parse(_ input: String) -> Data? { ... } // caller doesn't know why it failed
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// ✅
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func parse(_ input: String) throws -> Data { ... }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ try! in production code
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let data = try! JSONDecoder().decode(User.self, from: jsonData)
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// ✅
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do {
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let data = try JSONDecoder().decode(User.self, from: jsonData)
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} catch {
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logger.error("decode failed: \(error)")
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throw AppError.decodingFailed(underlying: error)
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}
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Generic Error type
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enum AppError: Error { case generic(String) }
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// ✅ — specific, actionable error cases
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enum AppError: Error {
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case networkUnreachable
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case invalidInput(field: String, reason: String)
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case unauthorized
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}
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Catching all errors and ignoring
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do { try riskyOperation() } catch { }
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// ✅
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do {
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try riskyOperation()
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} catch let error as NetworkError {
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handleNetworkError(error)
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} catch {
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throw error // rethrow unknown
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}
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```
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---
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## 5. Concurrency {#concurrency}
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```swift
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// ❌ Callback-based async (pyramid of doom)
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fetchUser { user in
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fetchPosts(for: user) { posts in
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fetchComments(for: posts.first!) { comments in
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display(comments)
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}
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}
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}
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// ✅ (Swift 5.5+)
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let user = try await fetchUser()
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let posts = try await fetchPosts(for: user)
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let comments = try await fetchComments(for: posts[0])
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display(comments)
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Sequential awaits for independent work
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let a = try await fetchA()
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let b = try await fetchB()
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// ✅
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async let a = fetchA()
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async let b = fetchB()
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let (resultA, resultB) = try await (a, b)
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ DispatchQueue.main.async for UI updates in async context
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DispatchQueue.main.async { label.text = result }
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// ✅
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await MainActor.run { label.text = result }
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// or mark the function/class @MainActor
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```
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**Use `actor` for mutable shared state instead of manual locks/queues.**
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---
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## 6. Protocol-Oriented Design {#protocols}
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```swift
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// ❌ Deep class inheritance hierarchy
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class Animal { ... }
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class Dog: Animal { ... }
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class GuideDog: Dog { ... }
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// ✅ — protocols + composition
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protocol Animal { var name: String { get } }
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protocol Trainable { func train() }
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struct Dog: Animal, Trainable { ... }
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Protocol with default implementations for everything
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protocol Renderable {
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func render()
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}
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extension Renderable {
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func render() { /* default */ }
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}
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// Every conformer uses default — protocol serves no purpose
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// ✅ — only default implementations that provide genuine shared logic
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```
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```swift
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// ❌ Associated type when generic parameter suffices
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protocol Container {
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associatedtype Element
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func get() -> Element
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}
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// ✅ — use `some` or generic parameter for simple cases
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func process(_ item: some Equatable) { ... }
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```
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---
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## 7. Anti-patterns specific to Swift {#antipatterns}
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| Anti-pattern | Preferred |
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| Force unwrap `!` in production code | `guard let` / `if let` / `??` |
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| `try!` outside tests | `do/catch` |
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| `class` for plain data | `struct` |
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| Deep inheritance hierarchies | protocol composition |
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| `@objc` when pure Swift works | native Swift types |
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| `NSArray` / `NSDictionary` | `Array` / `Dictionary` |
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| `DispatchQueue` in async/await code | `actor` / `MainActor` |
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| Implicitly unwrapped optionals as fields | regular optionals or non-optional with init |
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| `Any` / `AnyObject` everywhere | generics with protocol constraints |
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| Massive `switch` over string values | enum with raw values |
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| Singleton pattern (global mutable state) | dependency injection |
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## Limitations
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- These are language-specific guidelines and do not cover overall architectural decisions.
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- Over-compression might reduce readability; apply judgement.
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