This article provides beginners with some essential guidelines in Swift development. These tips are designed to help you build better Swift applications and improve your skills as you progress in your career.
1. Follow Naming Conventions for Swift Identifiers
Swift supports the use of descriptive and clear names for variables, constants, functions, and types. You should use CamelCase notation when naming variables and functions. Constants should be in all-caps, while types should start with an uppercase letter. Using descriptive names makes your code more readable and understandable for others who might read or modify it.
Example:
“`
let accountNumber: Int = 123456789
var customerName: String = “John Doe”
func calculateOrderTotal(price: Double, quantity: Int) -> Double {
return price * Double(quantity)
}
struct Person {
let firstName: String
let lastName: String
}
“`
2. Keep Code Lines Short
Swift experts suggest that each line of code should be between 40-80 characters long. This recommendation helps to prevent horizontal scrolling, makes your code readable, and makes it easier to find errors. Keeping lines short also helps when viewing code on mobile devices or smaller screens.
Example:
“`
// This is good
let totalOrder = calculateOrderTotal(price: 10.99, quantity: 5)
// This is not recommended
let totalOrder = calculateOrderTotal(price: 10.99, quantity: 5) + calculateOrderTotal(price: 9.99, quantity: 8) + calculateOrderTotal(price: 5.99, quantity: 2)
“`
3. Avoid Using Force Unwrapping
In Swift, force unwrapping is a term used when a program attempts to access a value that may contain nil. As a beginner, it may be tempting to use force unwrapping to avoid inconsistencies, but it’s essential to avoid it as much as possible. Instead, try using optional binding and guard let statements to safely unwrap optional values.
Example:
“`
// Force Unwrapping
let username: String? = “John”
let name = username!
// Optional Binding
if let username = username {
let name = username
}
// Guard Let
guard let username = username else {
return
}
let name = username
“`
4. Maintain a Consistent Coding Style
Use a consistent coding style throughout your Swift applications. A good coding style should help make your code more readable and understandable across all the relevant parties. It also helps developers collaborate more effectively as they wouldn’t need to guess the intended conventions and structure of the code.
Example:
“`
// This is good
let accountNumber: Int = 12345
// This is not recommended
let account_number: Int= 12345
let Account_Number: Int = 12345
“`
5. Consider Using SwiftLint
SwiftLint is an open-source tool that analyses your Swift code for possible errors and inconsistencies. SwiftLint checks your code against a set of predefined coding rules and guidelines, thereby helping you to identify and resolve any potential issues in your code. We recommend using SwiftLint in every project as it ensures consistency and code quality across your team.
Example:
SwiftLint can detect violations against best practices, including the following:
“`
let name: String = “John” // SwiftLint will flag this violation.
let name: String = “John”
“`
In conclusion, following these guidelines can improve the overall quality of your Swift code. While there’s more to learn on the Swift language, these tips can help beginners in creating stable, efficient, and scalable applications. By staying consistent with these conventions, it becomes easier for your codebase as a whole to be more organized, easier to read, debug, and maintain.
