WWDC 2024 has come and gone, which appears to occur faster and faster every year, and in its wake are plenty of movies to take a look at. There have been so many movies this 12 months, Apple began releasing them Monday night time after the Platform State of the Union, so that you knew it was going to be a packed week. It might be unattainable to cowl all the brand new materials in a single article. Nevertheless, between the Keynote, the Platform State of the Union, and a few choose movies, listed below are some belongings you positively want to take a look at. These are in no explicit order, however all are must-watches if you happen to’re an Apple developer.
Swift
Swift 6 is the large change this 12 months, though you may fortunately undertake the brand new protected data-race security conformance at your personal tempo, module by module, due to compiler’s Swift 6 language mode choices. Along with utilizing Swift on embedded gadgets, improved C++ interoperability, and non-copyable sorts, two actually cool objects stood out.
Totally Static Linux SDK for Swift
Now you can cross-compile your apps for Swift on Linux and embrace the Swift libraries as a completely static part of your app. This implies the vacation spot doesn’t have to have Swift put in. This may be nice for deploying issues like net service apps over to a Linux system.
Typed Throws
Now you can used typed throws to get higher suggestions on precisely what error is caught. For instance:
enum MyError: Error {
misTyped, whatWasIThinking
}
func foo(string: String) throws(MyError) -> String {
//.....
throw MyError.misTyped(string)
}
do {
let response = attempt foo(string: "Howdy world!")
} catch {
//the error right here is of sort "MyError" as an alternative of simply "Error"
}
For extra on Swift this 12 months, you should definitely try What’s new in Swift, and for extra on migrating your venture to Swift 6, try Migrate your app to Swift 6
SwiftUI
SwiftUI acquired a good variety of updates this 12 months, as traditional. Listed here are a few of the issues that stood out.
View Is now on the @MainActor
You not have to mark your views with @MainActor as a result of the View protocol now has that ornament. That’s one much less line of code to jot down!
The Magic Floating Tab Bar (or Is it a Sidebar?)
One thing that’s already getting a combined response is the brand new tab view type:
struct TabBarExample: View {
var physique: some View {
TabView {
Textual content("Tab 1")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "1.circle")
Textual content("Tab 1")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 2")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "2.circle")
Textual content("Tab 2")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 3")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "3.circle")
Textual content("Tab 3")
}
}
}
.tabViewStyle(.sidebarAdaptable)
}
}
This may end up in one among two pictures, relying on whether or not you need a floating tab bar on the high (assume visionOS) or a standard sidebar (assume NavigationSplitView):
I haven’t had an opportunity to play quite a bit with this one, however as with all paradigm-breaking issues, there’s normally a little bit of disagreement locally about it. We’ll see how this one shakes out!
New Modifiers for Presentation and Zooming
For views represented in a sheet, a brand new modifier permits you to specify web page, type, or customized sizing:
.presentationSizing(.type)
And to get a pleasant zoom in animation when bringing views to the foreground, a brand new pair of modifiers may help you:
.navigationTransition(.zoom(
sourceID: merchandise.id, in: namespace))
///....
.matchedTransitionSource(id: merchandise.id, in: namespace)
}
For extra on SwiftUI this 12 months, you should definitely try What’s new in SwiftUI.
SwiftData
SwiftData didn’t have an enormous replace this 12 months like some have been hoping, nevertheless it did get some very needed updates to assist with efficiency and queries. This 12 months, Apple added the flexibility to specify distinctive constraints with the #Distinctive macro and generally listed fields with Index. With just some traces of code, you may add these options to an current @Mannequin:
import SwiftData
import Basis
@Mannequin
class KodecoArticle {
#Distinctive([.name, .dateWritten, .author])
#Index([.name], [.dateWritten], [.author], [.name, .dateWritten, .author])
var title: String = ""
var creator: String = ""
var content material: String = ""
var dateWritten: Date?
var dateUpdated: Date?
init(title: String, creator: String, content material: String, dateWritten: Date? = nil, dateUpdated: Date? = nil) {
self.title = title
self.creator = creator
self.content material = content material
self.dateWritten = dateWritten
self.dateUpdated = dateUpdated
}
}
The #Distinctive line states that entries are distinctive on that mixture of properties, and the #Index line lists which properties, or mixture of properties, are added as further metadata to the mannequin so it might probably carry out quicker queries.
Apple additionally unveiled different new options for SwiftData, reminiscent of utilizing your personal customized information retailer! For extra, try What’s New in SwiftData.
Frameworks That Are In all places
There have been two sturdy examples of frameworks that have been gaining parity and energy over many if not all the platforms Apple gives. There’s quite a bit to cowl right here, so right here they’re together with hyperlinks to the WWDC movies.
App Intents
Over the previous few years, App Intents has develop into a significant participant on the subject of surfacing your app’s options; whether or not it’s to shortcuts, Siri, or widgets.
This 12 months, App Intents will get one other improve as a result of it’s the mechanism to hook your app into Apple Intelligence. For extra, you should definitely try What’s new in App Intents, Convey your app’s core options to customers with App Intents, and Convey your app to Siri.
RealityKit
Through the years, RealityKit hasn’t been very uniform throughout the platforms, making it exhausting to deploy the identical app to totally different Apple {hardware}. That modifications this 12 months, as RealityKit has plenty of new cross-platform APIs throughout all the varied platforms — visionOS, macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. For extra, try Uncover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS, and visionOS.
Swift Testing
Along with shifting the open supply Swift elements to the swiftlang group at GitHub, Apple has formally included Swift Testing in that household of libraries. Swift Testing is a brand new means of testing in Swift (however complementary to XCTest), introducing extra “Swifty” syntax to your check code. Right here’s a fast instance:
import Testing
struct WWDCTests {
@Take a look at func testExample() async throws {
let worth = 2
#anticipate(worth + worth == 3)
let value2: Int? = nil
_ = attempt #require(value2)
}
}
After importing the Testing framework, you enhance your assessments with the @Take a look at attribute. This implies you not want to call your check strategies so they begin with “check”. I’ve added just a few issues to check. The primary makes use of the #anticipate macro, which replaces the household of XCTAssert calls and checks to see whether or not the situation inside is true. The subsequent code block checks that value2 will not be nil earlier than continuing through the use of the #require macro. See what Xcode says when the check button is clicked:
In the proper gutter, you see indications that the expectations failed. For the primary one, if you happen to hover over the error, a “Present” button seems that you may click on to get extra particulars, as proven within the screenshot. This allows you to dive into why precisely the examined code failed.
This appears to be quite a bit cleaner than XCTest (though you need to use each in your assessments!), and I can’t wait to begin utilizing it. For extra about Swift Testing, try Meet Swift Testing.
