How to access complex structured data in swift? [closed] - swift

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struct SubSection {
let title:String
var options: [SubSettingsOptionType]
}
enum SubSettingsOptionType {
case staticCell(model:SubSettingsOption)
case switchCell(model:SubSettingsSwitchOption)
}
class SubSettingsSwitchOption {
let title:String
let handler: (() -> Void)
let isOn:Bool
init(title:String, _ mHandler:#escaping (() -> Void), isOn:Bool) {
self.title = title
self.isOn = isOn
self.handler = mHandler
}
}
class SubSettingsOption {
var title:String
var isSelected:Bool
var handler: ((Int, Int) -> Void)
init(title:String, isSelected:Bool, _ mHandler:#escaping ((Int, Int) -> Void)) {
self.title = title
self.isSelected = isSelected
self.handler = mHandler
}
}
I came across a code with a complex structure for me as above
When I try to access and use this code, I am using the following, but it is very inconvenient every time I use it.
Is there an easier way to access the data?
let type = models[0].options[0]
switch type.self {
case .staticCell(let model):
model.isSelected = true
case .switchCell(let model):
model.handler()
}

If you're stuck with the enum, the switch is probably the most convenient method of doing different things for the various cases. if also supports patterns that can match the cases of an enum, but that's rarely more convenient than a switch, and is usually noticeably more awkward, not to mention that if can't enforce that you handled all cases of an enum.
But that doesn't mean you have to litter your code with switch statements. If what you're doing in the various cases is consistent, extract that into a function, for example create an extension on SubSettingsOptionType in which this function would be a method in that extension, and then just use that function instead of a switch every time.
I'll give you an example, but keep in mind I don't really know anything about the context of your code, so the names I give things almost certainly can be much better.
extension SubSettingsOptionType
{
func apply()
{
switch self
{
case .staticCell(let model):
model.isSelected = true
case .switchCell(let model):
model.handler()
}
}
}
With that in place, the code you find inconvenient can be reduced to:
models[0].options[0].apply()
You may have several sets of use cases that come up repeatedly in your code, so you may end up with several such functions, each to handle one of the consistent sets. If you name the function(s) well, your code will be easier to read too.
Another approach might be to imagine how you'd design it in a more convenient way if you were free to replace the enum with something else, then write a set of adapters that wrap the enum, but provide the API you'd prefer.
For example, maybe you'd prefer polymorphism, you might define something like:
protocol CellOptionType {
func apply()
}
struct StaticCellOptionType: CellOptionType
{
var model: SubSettingsOption
func apply() { model.isSelected = true }
}
struct SwitchCellOptionType: CellOptionType
{
var model: SubSettingsSwitchOption
func apply() { model.handler() }
}
extension SubSettingsOptionType
{
var cellOptionType: CellOptionType
{
switch self
{
case .staticCell(let model):
return StaticCellOptionType(model: model)
case .switchCell(let model):
return SwitchCellOptionType(model: model)
}
}
}
Now instead of your original code you can write
models[0].options[0].cellOptionType.apply()
or assign it to a variable to do something with it later
let cellOptionType = models[0].options[0].cellOptionType
// Some time later in your code
cellOptionType.apply()
Is this actually better? Maybe. It depends on how often you need to call apply and how much you store/pass-around SubSettingsOptionType instances.
Yet another alternative is to implement a more fluid-style API in an extension. This can be helpful if you don't have a lot of consistent use cases and the number of enum cases isn't likely to grow. Something like this:
extension SubSettingsOptionType
{
func onStaticCell(_ code: (_ model: SubSettingsOption) throws) rethrows -> Self?
{
switch self
{
case staticCell(let model):
code(model)
return nil
default: return self
}
}
func onSwitchCell(_ code: (_ model: SubSettingsSwitchOption) throws) rethrows -> Self?
{
switch self
{
case switchCell(let model):
code(model)
return nil
default: return self
}
}
}
Then you can use it like this:
models[0].options[0]
.onStaticCell { $0.isSelected = true }
?.onSwitchCell { $0.handler() }
Although I usually like fluid API's, in this case, the need to optionally unwrap here makes it a bit more awkward. There are ways to get around that - wrap the enum, and keep track of which on... methods have been called. That would eliminate the need for the optional. I'll leave that "as an exercise" for now.

Related

How to make a type alias that references itself?

I made a few gateways / providers to integrate with an API in my API, using RX Swift and I'm trying to handle the pagination in what seems to me like a clean and simple way.
Basically, the function signature would look like that:
func getPlaces(with location: CLLocationCoordinate2D) -> Observable<(value: [Place], next: Observable<(value: [Places], Observable<(value: [Place], next: ... ... >>
This quickly appears impractical, so I tried creating a typealias for that:
typealias Result = Observable<(value: [Place], next: Result?)>
So my function signature would look like this:
func getPlaces(with location: CLLocationCoordinate2D) -> Result
But Xcode wouldn't get fooled so easily and calls me out for referencing my typealias inside itself
So... is it even doable ? How ?
I don't think this is possible using a typealias because you are creating an infinite type. The only way I can think of is to make Observable a recursive enumeration:
enum Observable {
case end([Place])
indirect case node([Place], Observable)
}
So, I mixed my approach with Nibr's, using a single case. This allows to handle pagination much more simply (in my opinion) from the ViewModel's side
enum Result<T> {
indirect case node([T], Observable<Result>?)
var value: [T] {
if case let GatewayResult.node(value, _) = self {
return value
}
return []
}
var next: Observable<Result>? {
if case let GatewayResult.node(_, next) = self {
return next
}
return nil
}
}

Is it possible to store pattern of enum with associated value in array?

Let's say we have simple enum with message types:
enum MessageType {
case audio
case photo
case text
}
There is Handler class which handles messages with specific types only:
class Handler {
let allowed: [MessageType]
init(_ allowed: [MessageType]) { self.allowed = allowed }
func canHandle(_ messageType: MessageType) -> Bool {
return allowed.contains(messageType)
}
}
Basic usage example:
let handler = Handler([.audio, .photo])
print(handler.canHandle(.text)) // Prints false
I want to upgrade my MessageType and add associated value for some of message types.
class Audio {}
enum MessageType {
case audio(Audio)
case photo
case text
}
Problem is that I can't store enum's pattern in allowed array for the future check in canHandle:
// error: '_' can only appear in a pattern or on the left side of an assignment
let handler = Handler([.audio(_), .photo])
Is it possible to resolve such case in a "clean" way?
It's not possible to modify MessageType because it's in third-party library (e.g. making arguments optional and passing nil)
It's not possible to init MessageType.audio(Audio) with fake Audio because it could have private initializer
I hope to avoid switch, case let or other hard-coded checks in canHandle
Any suggestions? Thanks
If instantiating the enum with a default (or garbage) value isn't a big deal
enum MessageType {
case audio(String)
case photo
case text
}
protocol SneakyEquatableMessage {
func equals(message: MessageType) -> Bool
}
extension MessageType: SneakyEquatableMessage {
func equals(message: MessageType) -> Bool {
switch (self, message) {
case (.audio(_), .audio(_)),
(.photo, .photo),
(.text, .text):
return true
default:
return false
}
}
}
class Handler {
let allowed: [MessageType]
init(_ allowed: [MessageType]) { self.allowed = allowed }
func canHandle(_ messageType: MessageType) -> Bool {
return allowed.contains { $0.equals(message: messageType) }
}
}
Basic Usage
let handler = Handler([.audio(""), .photo])
print(handler.canHandle(.text)) // Prints false
print(handler.canHandle(.audio("abc")) //Prints true
Default (or garbage) values are unrealistic
This particular section is more specific in this context, but ultimately you're going to have breakdown your enum somehow as of Swift 4. So this is my suggestion: Dependency Injection of the Factory Pattern inside Handler. This solves all of your problems pretty cleanly without having to touch switch within Handler or optionals.
enum DisassembledMessage {
case audio
case photo
case text
}
protocol MessageTypeFactory {
func disassemble(message: MessageType) -> DisassembledMessage
func disassemble(messages: [MessageType]) -> [DisassembledMessage]
}
class Handler {
let allowed: [MessageType]
let factory: MessageTypeFactory
init(allowed: [MessageType], with factory: MessageTypeFactory) {
self.allowed = allowed
self.factory = factory
}
func canHandle(_ messageType: DisassembledMessage) -> Bool {
return factory
.disassemble(messages: allowed)
.contains { $0 == messageType }
}
}
Basic Usage
let audioValue: Audio = //...
let audioMessage = MessageType.audio(audioValue)
let factory: MessageTypeFactory = //...
let handler = Handler(allowed: [audioMessage, .photo], with: factory)
print(handler.canHandle(.text)) // Prints false
print(handler.canHandle(factory.disassemble(message: audioMessage))) //Prints true
You may be asking: wait... you just created another enum (also this is just an example, you could convert it to whatever you want in that protocol). Well I say: the enum you're using is from a library... see my notes section. Also, you can now use that factory anywhere you need to break down the library type to something, including inside Handler. You could easily expand the protocol MessageTypeFactory to convert your enum to other types (hopefully behaviors) you've created, and basically just distance yourself from the library type when you need to. I hope this helps clarify what I was getting at! I don't even think you should store MessageType in your class. You should store your own type which is some kind of mapped version of MessageType, like DisassembledType.
I hope this helps!
Notes
A few things:
I'm sorry your soul is owned by a library, really.
Use the Adapter Pattern. Clean C++ is one of many places you
can learn about it. Don't pollute your entire code base with one of
their types! That's just a tip.
I know you said you didn't want to use a switch... but you're working with enums... At least it's within the enum!
Use your own types! (Did I say that?)
Use the Adapter Pattern! (Stop it.)

Avoid coupling when using enum in tests

Say we have this enum
enum Action: String {
case doThing
case doOtherThing
}
This enum is used this way:
func run(action: Action, block: () -> Void)
Now, I unit test the run method so I need to pass an Action this way:
func testActionRun() {
let expect = expectation(description: #function)
let sut = ActionRunner()
sut.run(action: .doThing) {
expect.fulfill()
// Assert something
}
waitForExpectations(timeout: 0.1, handler: nil)
}
As I need to test other situations on ActionRunner, I ended with a lot of .doThing spread over the whole test suite.
The problem is: if I make a change in production code and change case doThing to case doThatThing now all my test suite fails because there is no a case doThing.
The perfect thing would be to declare a dummy case in test code to allow something like
sut.run(action: .dummyAction) {
}
but enum does not allow that as it doesn't allows inheritance nor a extension to add a case.
The first option that came to my mind was to convert Action into a protocol, but that change is unnecessary in production and its only purpose is to accomplish something in test code.
So, is it there another option to achieve this?
The question of how to avoid coupling when using enums is a tricky one. I bumped into that myself a few times with no solid answer :/
One point you raise is the one of using a protocol, and that feels unnecessary in production. I sort of agree with that, but most time it's the necessary evil.
In the example you showed though I think maybe a tweak in the design might solve part of the problem.
In particular when looking at this code
func run(action: Action, block: () -> Void) {
// ...
}
func testActionRun() {
let expect = expectation(description: #function)
let sut = ActionRunner()
sut.run(action: .doThing) {
expect.fulfill()
// Assert something
}
waitForExpectations(timeout: 0.1, handler: nil)
}
What comes to mind to me is that your Action specifies a certain behaviour. That is when you test the run method passing .doThing you expect a different behaviour than when passing .doOtherThing.
If that's right, is there any reason why you need to pass the action enum instance and an action block to the run function?
You could separate the code that defines the behaviour from the one performs the actual action even more that what you've done already. For example:
protocol Actionable {
var action: () -> () { get }
}
enum Action: Actionable {
case doThing
case doOtherThing
var action {
switch self {
case .doThing: return ...
case .doOtherThing: return ...
}
}
class ActionRunner {
func run(actionable: Actionable) {
actionable.action()
}
}
func testActionRun() {
let expect = expectation(description: #function)
let sut = ActionRunner()
sut.run(actionable: FakeActionable()) {
expectation.fulfill()
}
waitForExpectations(timeout: 0.1, handler: nil)
}
class FakeActionable: Actionable {
let action = { }
}
func testDoThing() {
let sut = Action.doThing
sut.action()
// XCTAssert for the expected effect of the action
}
Note: I haven't actually compiled that code, so bear with me if it has some mistakes. It should give the idea though.
This way you have ActionRunner which only purpose is to properly run a given Actionable, and the Action enum which only purpose is to describe what different actions should do.
This example code is rather restrict in what it can do, only run () -> () actions, but you could build on top of it to achieve more advanced behaviours.
If you change your production code you have to change your test code too in order to test those new changes.
Maybe you can set the value on an Action variable in the setUp func of your XCTestCase class
import XCTest
class SharingKitTests: XCTestCase {
var theAction: Action!
override func setUp() {
super.setUp()
self.theAction = .doThing
}
}
Then you will be able to use this theAction var in all your test methods, and if you need to change the value you only need to change it in one place.

what is the difference between these two in swift 3 [duplicate]

In the Introduction to Swift WWDC session, a read-only property description is demonstrated:
class Vehicle {
var numberOfWheels = 0
var description: String {
return "\(numberOfWheels) wheels"
}
}
let vehicle = Vehicle()
println(vehicle.description)
Are there any implications to choosing the above approach over using a method instead:
class Vehicle {
var numberOfWheels = 0
func description() -> String {
return "\(numberOfWheels) wheels"
}
}
let vehicle = Vehicle()
println(vehicle.description())
It seems to me that the most obvious reasons for choosing a read-only computed property are:
Semantics - in this example it makes sense for description to be a property of the class, rather than an action it performs.
Brevity/Clarity - prevents the need to use empty parentheses when getting the value.
Clearly the above example is overly simple, but are there other good reasons to choose one over the other? For example, are there some features of functions or properties that would guide your decision of which to use?
N.B. At first glance this seems like quite a common OOP question, but I'm keen to know of any Swift-specific features that would guide best practice when using this language.
It seems to me that it's mostly a matter of style: I strongly prefer using properties for just that: properties; meaning simple values that you can get and/or set. I use functions (or methods) when actual work is being done. Maybe something has to be computed or read from disk or from a database: In this case I use a function, even when only a simple value is returned. That way I can easily see whether a call is cheap (properties) or possibly expensive (functions).
We will probably get more clarity when Apple publishes some Swift coding conventions.
Well, you can apply Kotlin 's advices https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/coding-conventions.html#functions-vs-properties.
In some cases functions with no arguments might be interchangeable
with read-only properties. Although the semantics are similar, there
are some stylistic conventions on when to prefer one to another.
Prefer a property over a function when the underlying algorithm:
does not throw
complexity is cheap to calculate (or caсhed
on the first run)
returns the same result over invocations
While a question of computed properties vs methods in general is hard and subjective, currently there is one important argument in the Swift's case for preferring methods over properties. You can use methods in Swift as pure functions which is not true for properties (as of Swift 2.0 beta). This makes methods much more powerful and useful since they can participate in functional composition.
func fflat<A, R>(f: (A) -> () -> (R)) -> (A) -> (R) {
return { f($0)() }
}
func fnot<A>(f: (A) -> Bool) -> (A) -> (Bool) {
return { !f($0) }
}
extension String {
func isEmptyAsFunc() -> Bool {
return isEmpty
}
}
let strings = ["Hello", "", "world"]
strings.filter(fnot(fflat(String.isEmptyAsFunc)))
There is a difference:
If you use a property you can then eventually override it and make it read/write in a subclass.
Since the runtime is the same, this question applies to Objective-C as well. I'd say, with properties you get
a possibility of adding a setter in a subclass, making the property readwrite
an ability to use KVO/didSet for change notifications
more generally, you can pass property to methods that expect key paths, e.g. fetch request sorting
As for something specific to Swift, the only example I have is that you can use #lazy for a property.
In the read-only case, a computed property should not be considered semantically equivalent to a method, even when they behave identically, because dropping the func declaration blurs the distinction between quantities that comprise the state of an instance and quantities that are merely functions of the state. You save typing () at the call site, but risk losing clarity in your code.
As a trivial example, consider the following vector type:
struct Vector {
let x, y: Double
func length() -> Double {
return sqrt(x*x + y*y)
}
}
By declaring the length as a method, it’s clear that it’s a function of the state, which depends only on x and y.
On the other hand, if you were to express length as a computed property
struct VectorWithLengthAsProperty {
let x, y: Double
var length: Double {
return sqrt(x*x + y*y)
}
}
then when you dot-tab-complete in your IDE on an instance of VectorWithLengthAsProperty, it would look as if x, y, length were properties on an equal footing, which is conceptually incorrect.
From the performance perspective, there seems no difference. As you can see in the benchmark result.
gist
main.swift code snippet:
import Foundation
class MyClass {
var prop: Int {
return 88
}
func foo() -> Int {
return 88
}
}
func test(times: u_long) {
func testProp(times: u_long) -> TimeInterval {
let myClass = MyClass()
let starting = Date()
for _ in 0...times {
_ = myClass.prop
}
let ending = Date()
return ending.timeIntervalSince(starting)
}
func testFunc(times: u_long) -> TimeInterval {
let myClass = MyClass()
let starting = Date()
for _ in 0...times {
_ = myClass.prop
}
let ending = Date()
return ending.timeIntervalSince(starting)
}
print("prop: \(testProp(times: times))")
print("func: \(testFunc(times: times))")
}
test(times: 100000)
test(times: 1000000)
test(times: 10000000)
test(times: 100000000)
Output:
prop: 0.0380070209503174
func: 0.0350250005722046
prop: 0.371925950050354
func: 0.363085985183716
prop: 3.4023300409317
func: 3.38373708724976
prop: 33.5842199325562
func: 34.8433820009232
Program ended with exit code: 0
In Chart:
There are situations where you would prefer computed property over normal functions. Such as: returning the full name of an person. You already know the first name and the last name. So really the fullName property is a property not a function. In this case, it is computed property (because you can't set the full name, you can just extract it using the firstname and the lastname)
class Person{
let firstName: String
let lastName: String
init(firstName: String, lastName: String){
self.firstName = firstName
self.lastName = lastName
}
var fullName :String{
return firstName+" "+lastName
}
}
let william = Person(firstName: "William", lastName: "Kinaan")
william.fullName //William Kinaan
Semantically speaking, computed properties should be tightly coupled with the intrinsic state of the object - if other properties don't change, then querying the computed property at different times should give the same output (comparable via == or ===) - similar to calling a pure function on that object.
Methods on the other hand come out of the box with the assumption that we might not always get the same results, because Swift doesn't have a way to mark functions as pure. Also, methods in OOP are considered actions, which means that executing them might result in side effects. If the method has no side effects, then it can safely be converted to a computed property.
Note that both of the above statements are purely from a semantic perspective, as it might well happen for computed properties to have side effects that we don't expect, and methods to be pure.
Historically description is a property on NSObject and many would expect that it continues the same in Swift. Adding parens after it will only add confusion.
EDIT:
After furious downvoting I have to clarify something - if it is accessed via dot syntax, it can be considered a property. It doesn't matter what's under the hood. You can't access usual methods with dot syntax.
Besides, calling this property did not require extra parens, like in the case of Swift, which may lead to confusion.
An updated/fixed version of Benjamin Wen's answer incorporating Cristik's suggestion.
class MyClass {
var prop: Int {
return 88
}
func foo() -> Int {
return 88
}
}
func test(times: u_long) {
func testProp(times: u_long) -> TimeInterval {
let myClass = MyClass()
let starting = CACurrentMediaTime()
for _ in 0...times {
_ = myClass.prop
}
let ending = CACurrentMediaTime()
return ending - starting
}
func testFunc(times: u_long) -> TimeInterval {
let myClass = MyClass()
let starting = CACurrentMediaTime()
for _ in 0...times {
_ = myClass.foo()
}
let ending = CACurrentMediaTime()
return ending - starting
}
print("prop: \(testProp(times: times))")
print("func: \(testFunc(times: times))")
}
test(times: 100000)
test(times: 1000000)
test(times: 10000000)
test(times: 100000000)

How send generic value through the function? [duplicate]

I have code that follows the general design of:
protocol DispatchType {}
class DispatchType1: DispatchType {}
class DispatchType2: DispatchType {}
func doBar<D:DispatchType>(value:D) {
print("general function called")
}
func doBar(value:DispatchType1) {
print("DispatchType1 called")
}
func doBar(value:DispatchType2) {
print("DispatchType2 called")
}
where in reality DispatchType is actually a backend storage. The doBarfunctions are optimized methods that depend on the correct storage type. Everything works fine if I do:
let d1 = DispatchType1()
let d2 = DispatchType2()
doBar(value: d1) // "DispatchType1 called"
doBar(value: d2) // "DispatchType2 called"
However, if I make a function that calls doBar:
func test<D:DispatchType>(value:D) {
doBar(value: value)
}
and I try a similar calling pattern, I get:
test(value: d1) // "general function called"
test(value: d2) // "general function called"
This seems like something that Swift should be able to handle since it should be able to determine at compile time the type constraints. Just as a quick test, I also tried writing doBar as:
func doBar<D:DispatchType>(value:D) where D:DispatchType1 {
print("DispatchType1 called")
}
func doBar<D:DispatchType>(value:D) where D:DispatchType2 {
print("DispatchType2 called")
}
but get the same results.
Any ideas if this is correct Swift behavior, and if so, a good way to get around this behavior?
Edit 1: Example of why I was trying to avoid using protocols. Suppose I have the code (greatly simplified from my actual code):
protocol Storage {
// ...
}
class Tensor<S:Storage> {
// ...
}
For the Tensor class I have a base set of operations that can be performed on the Tensors. However, the operations themselves will change their behavior based on the storage. Currently I accomplish this with:
func dot<S:Storage>(_ lhs:Tensor<S>, _ rhs:Tensor<S>) -> Tensor<S> { ... }
While I can put these in the Tensor class and use extensions:
extension Tensor where S:CBlasStorage {
func dot(_ tensor:Tensor<S>) -> Tensor<S> {
// ...
}
}
this has a few side effects which I don't like:
I think dot(lhs, rhs) is preferable to lhs.dot(rhs). Convenience functions can be written to get around this, but that will create a huge explosion of code.
This will cause the Tensor class to become monolithic. I really prefer having it contain the minimal amount of code necessary and expand its functionality by auxiliary functions.
Related to (2), this means that anyone who wants to add new functionality will have to touch the base class, which I consider bad design.
Edit 2: One alternative is that things work expected if you use constraints for everything:
func test<D:DispatchType>(value:D) where D:DispatchType1 {
doBar(value: value)
}
func test<D:DispatchType>(value:D) where D:DispatchType2 {
doBar(value: value)
}
will cause the correct doBar to be called. This also isn't ideal, as it will cause a lot of extra code to be written, but at least lets me keep my current design.
Edit 3: I came across documentation showing the use of static keyword with generics. This helps at least with point (1):
class Tensor<S:Storage> {
// ...
static func cos(_ tensor:Tensor<S>) -> Tensor<S> {
// ...
}
}
allows you to write:
let result = Tensor.cos(value)
and it supports operator overloading:
let result = value1 + value2
it does have the added verbosity of required Tensor. This can made a little better with:
typealias T<S:Storage> = Tensor<S>
This is indeed correct behaviour as overload resolution takes place at compile time (it would be a pretty expensive operation to take place at runtime). Therefore from within test(value:), the only thing the compiler knows about value is that it's of some type that conforms to DispatchType – thus the only overload it can dispatch to is func doBar<D : DispatchType>(value: D).
Things would be different if generic functions were always specialised by the compiler, because then a specialised implementation of test(value:) would know the concrete type of value and thus be able to pick the appropriate overload. However, specialisation of generic functions is currently only an optimisation (as without inlining, it can add significant bloat to your code), so this doesn't change the observed behaviour.
One solution in order to allow for polymorphism is to leverage the protocol witness table (see this great WWDC talk on them) by adding doBar() as a protocol requirement, and implementing the specialised implementations of it in the respective classes that conform to the protocol, with the general implementation being a part of the protocol extension.
This will allow for the dynamic dispatch of doBar(), thus allowing it to be called from test(value:) and having the correct implementation called.
protocol DispatchType {
func doBar()
}
extension DispatchType {
func doBar() {
print("general function called")
}
}
class DispatchType1: DispatchType {
func doBar() {
print("DispatchType1 called")
}
}
class DispatchType2: DispatchType {
func doBar() {
print("DispatchType2 called")
}
}
func test<D : DispatchType>(value: D) {
value.doBar()
}
let d1 = DispatchType1()
let d2 = DispatchType2()
test(value: d1) // "DispatchType1 called"
test(value: d2) // "DispatchType2 called"