Blog

Swift Numerics

The Swift Numerics open-source project introduces a modular Swift package for numerical computing, filling gaps in the Standard Library with modules like Real and Complex.

Development

Monthly update #0354 • October 2019

Monthly update 354 • October 2019 • 2019-10-01 - 2019-10-31

Monthly Updates

SSWG Annual Update '19

The Swift Server Work Group (SSWG) has made significant progress in its first year, establishing an incubation process for defining high-quality Swift packages through community pitches, reviews, and acceptance.

Development

Earth and Sun

The day-night cycle and the cycle of the seasons have been an important part of human civilization for millennia.

Gems

New Diagnostic Architecture Overview

Swift 5.2 enhances compiler diagnostics through a new infrastructure that uses 'constraint fixes' to pinpoint type errors more accurately, allowing the type checker to continue solving and report multiple issues with actionable guidance, unlike the old system's vague guesses.

Development

Monthly update #0353 • September 2019

Monthly update 353 • September 2019 • 2019-09-01 - 2019-09-30

Monthly Updates

Swift 5.2 Release Process

Swift 5.2 focuses on delivering significant improvements in quality and performance.

Development

Swift 5.1 Released!

Swift 5.1 advances Swift 5 by introducing module stability, enabling binary frameworks that work across compiler versions, alongside library evolution support for resilient APIs.

Development

Apple Push Notification Device Tokens

In iOS 13 where a change in NSData’s description format, from a full hexadecimal string to a summarised form, breaks push notification workflows that relied on string manipulation of deviceToken in application(_:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:).

Development

England Day 07

Day 7 of my trip to England.

Trips

England Day 06

Day 6 of my trip to England.

Trips

Monthly update #0352 • August 2019

Monthly update 352 • August 2019 • 2019-08-01 - 2019-08-31

Monthly Updates

England Day 05

Day 5 of my trip to England.

Trips

England Day 04

Day 4 of my trip to England.

Trips

England Day 03

Day 3 of my trip to England.

Trips

England Day 02

Day 2 of my trip to England.

Trips

England Day 01

Day 1 of my trip to England.

Trips

Thread Sanitizer for Swift on Linux

Swift 5.1 introduces Thread Sanitizer on Linux, enabling runtime detection of data races in multithreaded code, which can cause unexpected behaviour or memory corruption despite Swift's single-threaded safety guarantees.

Development

Monthly update #0351 • July 2019

Monthly update 351 • July 2019 • 2019-07-01 - 2019-07-31

Monthly Updates

Alpha Compositing

Transparency may not seem particularly exciting. The GIF image format which allowed some pixels to show through the background was published over 30 years ago.

Gems

Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 (2019), directed by Josh Cooley, finds Woody with a new child named Bonnie. Tom Hanks voices Woody, the cowboy who still leads. Tim Allen acts as Buzz Lightyear, the ranger who seeks his voice.

Movies

Formatter

The article explores the Formatter class in Swift’s Foundation framework, essential for transforming data into human-readable formats, addressing complexities like user language, calendar, and currency preferences.

Development

CAEmitterLayer

The article introduces CAEmitterLayer for creating a confetti effect on iOS, explaining its role as a high-performance particle system within the Quartz Core framework for rendering effects like confetti, fire, or rain.

Development

Monthly update #0350 • June 2019

Monthly update 350 • June 2019 • 2019-06-01 - 2019-06-30

Monthly Updates

Maps of Meaning 12: Final: The Divinity of the Individual

Peterson reflects on the core problem he addressed in the class: why people cling to belief systems and even fight over them.

Gems