Advanced Swift (Расширенный Swift)

Introduction

The book "Advanced Swift" (authors: Chris Eidhof, Ole Begemann, Matt Gallagher, Florian Kugler) is not just another textbook on the Swift language. It is a deep, technically rich guide designed for developers who are already confident in writing Swift and want to understand its internal structure, advanced patterns, and optimization subtleties. The 2022 edition covers Swift 5.7 and the current capabilities of Apple platforms.

What this book is about

The book does not attempt to teach the basics of syntax — it immediately immerses the reader in complex topics: the type system, protocols with associated types, generic programming, memory management, concurrency (async/await, actors), as well as advanced techniques for working with closures and optionals. Special attention is paid to performance: the authors show how the compiler optimizes code and how to write efficient data structures.

Who this book is for

The book is intended for experienced iOS/macOS developers who want to go beyond everyday use of Swift. It will be useful for those who:

• have already written several applications in Swift and feel they have hit a ceiling;
• want to understand the internal workings of the compiler and runtime;
• strive to write safer, more performant, and more expressive code;
• are interested in functional programming and its application in Swift.

What the reader will learn

After reading, you will be able to:

• deeply understand the Swift type system, including generics, opaque types, and existentials;
• effectively use protocols with associated types (PATs) and type erasure;
• optimize code considering COW (copy-on-write), ARC, and inlining;
• work with concurrency via async/await, actors, and task groups;
• apply advanced patterns: monads, functors, lazy evaluation;
• understand the implementation of the Swift standard library.

Strengths

The main advantage of the book is its depth. The authors not only explain how a particular construct works but also show why it is designed that way, referencing the source code of the compiler and runtime. Each chapter contains many examples, many of which can be immediately applied in real projects. The chapter on performance deserves special mention: it provides a clear understanding of which abstractions are expensive and which are free. The book is written in a lively, technical language, without unnecessary fluff.

Who it is recommended for

We recommend this book to everyone who is seriously involved in development for the Apple ecosystem and wants to move to an expert level. It will be useful for team leads and architects, as well as for developers striving for excellence. Beginners will find the book difficult — it is better to start with the official Apple guide or the book "Swift Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide".

Overall, "Advanced Swift" is a must-read for any professional Swift developer who wants not just to write code, but to understand its essence.