Generics

Generics are a powerful feature in Swift that allow you to write flexible and reusable code. Here are some key points about generics from the WWDC sessions:

1. Embedded Swift:

   • Generics are fully supported in Embedded Swift. The compiler can specialize generic functions, resulting in code that does not need expensive runtime support or type metadata. This makes generics efficient and practical for embedded systems. Go small with Embedded Swift

2. Noncopyable Types:

   • Swift 6 introduces noncopyable generics, which are built on Swift's existing generics model. This allows you to use noncopyable types in generic code, improving the correctness of your programs. Consume noncopyable types in Swift
   • The tilde copyable constraint (~copyable) broadens the types permitted by being less specific, allowing noncopyable types to be used generically. Consume noncopyable types in Swift

3. Swift Tour:

   • Generics can be used to extend collections with new methods. For example, you can add a uniqued method to any collection containing elements that conform to the Hashable protocol. This demonstrates the flexibility of Swift protocols and generics. A Swift Tour: Explore Swift’s features and design

4. Swift Performance:

   • When dealing with generics, Swift often treats the layout of type parameters as unknown at compile time. However, if a type parameter is constrained to be a class, Swift can optimize by treating it as a class type, which is always a pointer. This can lead to more efficient code. Explore Swift performance

For a deeper dive into generics and their applications, you might want to watch the sessions mentioned above, especially the ones focused on noncopyable types and performance optimizations.