https://github.com/bellapplab/weakable
An easy way to hold weak references in Swift.
https://github.com/bellapplab/weakable
carthage cocoapods ios linux macos osx swift swift-package-manager tvos watchos weak
Last synced: 12 months ago
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An easy way to hold weak references in Swift.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/bellapplab/weakable
- Owner: BellAppLab
- License: mit
- Created: 2018-07-12T06:42:08.000Z (over 7 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2025-03-21T15:59:45.000Z (12 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-03-29T04:18:49.061Z (12 months ago)
- Topics: carthage, cocoapods, ios, linux, macos, osx, swift, swift-package-manager, tvos, watchos, weak
- Language: Swift
- Homepage:
- Size: 119 KB
- Stars: 1
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Weakable [](#installation) [](#license)
[](#installation)
[](#swift-versions-support)
[](https://github.com/apple/swift-package-manager)
Weakable is an easy way to hold `weak` references in Swift.
With Weakable you can create weak arrays, weak dictionaries and many other cool things.
😎
## Requirements
* iOS 12+
* watchOS 4+
* tvOS 12+
* macOS 11+
* Swift 4+
## Usage
Declare your `Weak` variable in one of the two ways provided:
```swift
//Given a class
class TestClass {}
//and an instance of that class
var aTestObject = TestClass()
//You can create a Weak like this:
var weakTestObject = Weak(aTestObject)
//Or using the shorthand operator ≈
var anotherWeakTestObject = ≈test
```
Access your variable:
```swift
weakTestObject.object //returns your value as an optional, since it may or may not have been released
```
## Operators
`Weakable` comes with 3 operators, all using the `≈` character (**⌥ + x**).
* `prefix ≈`
* Shorthand contructor for a `Weak` variable:
```swift
//Given an object
let object = AwesomeClass()
//you can create a Weak by either
var weakObject = Weak(object)
//or
var weakObject = ≈object
```
* `postfix operator ≈`
* Shorthand accessor for `Weak`:
```swift
//Given a Weak
var weakObject = ≈object
//you can access the underlying object by
weakObject.object
//or
weakObject≈
```
* `infix operator ≈`
* Shorthand assignment for `Weak`:
```swift
//Given a Weak
var weakObject = ≈object
//you can change the underlying object by
weakObject.object = anotherObject
//or
weakObject ≈ anotherObject
```
## Arrays and Dictionaries
You can safely store your `Weak` variables in collections (eg. `[Weak]`). The underlaying objects won't be retained.
```swift
var tests = (1...10).map { TestClass() } // 10 elements
var weakTests = ≈tests // 10 elements
tests.removeLast() // `tests` now have 9 elements, but `weakTests` have 10
weakTests = weakTests.filterWeaks() // `weakTests` now have 9 elements too, since we dropped the released objects from it
```
You can also quickly "unwrap" the elements in a `Weak` collection:
```swift
let tests = weakTests.compactWeaks()
```
The variable `tests` will now be a `[TestClass]` containing only the elements that haven't been released yet.
## Global weaks
Version `2.0` introduces the concept of global weak variables. Say you want to share the same instance of a class in several places, but you want to release the global variable once all other references are destroyed. That's what a global weak is.
```swift
final class TestClass: WeaklyGloballyIdentifiable {
typealias GlobalID = Int
@WeakGlobalActor
static var weakGlobals: [GlobalID: Weak] = [:]
}
let firstInstance = TestClass.weakGlobal(id: 1, default: TestClass())
let secondInstance = TestClass.weakGlobal(id: 1, default: TestClass())
print(firstInstance === secondInstance) // `true`
```
## Installation
### Swift Package Manager
```swift
dependencies: [
.package(url: "https://github.com/BellAppLab/Weakable", from: "2.0")
]
```
Then `import Weakable` where needed.
### Legacy
The following import methods only work for version `1.0.1`.
#### Cocoapods
```ruby
pod 'Weakable', '~> 1.0'
```
Then `import Weakable` where needed.
#### Carthage
```swift
github "BellAppLab/Weakable" ~> 1.0
```
Then `import Weakable` where needed.
#### Git Submodules
```
cd toYourProjectsFolder
git submodule add -b submodule --name Weakable https://github.com/BellAppLab/Weakable.git
```
Then drag the `Weakable` folder into your Xcode project.
## Author
Bell App Lab, apps@bellapplab.com
### Credits
[Logo image](https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=weak&i=37722#) by [Артур Абт](https://thenounproject.com/Abt) from [The Noun Project](https://thenounproject.com/)
## License
Weakable is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.