Swift Algorithms Library
Article Summary
Nate Cook from Apple's Swift team just dropped Swift Algorithms, an open-source package that could change how iOS developers write collection code. If you've ever written a gnarly nested loop to chunk data or find permutations, this is for you.
Apple released Swift Algorithms as an official open-source package containing battle-tested sequence and collection algorithms. Think Python's itertools or C++ algorithms library, but designed specifically for Swift's protocol-oriented approach. The package serves as a proving ground for algorithms before they graduate into the Swift standard library.
Key Takeaways
- Includes chunking, permutations, combinations, cycling, and random sampling out of the box
- Replaces error-prone raw loops with readable, performance-optimized algorithm calls
- Acts as incubator: successful algorithms graduate to Swift standard library
- Open for community contributions that meet specific criteria around readability and common use
Swift Algorithms gives iOS developers a curated toolkit of collection operations that improve code correctness while providing a faster path for new algorithms to reach the standard library.
