Functional Programming in Swift (bobkonf2024)

Published: March 15, 2024, 10:45 a.m.

When people talk about functional programming in modern multi-paradigm languages, they usually mention Rust, Scala, or Kotlin. You rarely hear Swift being mentioned. This is odd, as one might argue that, of these languages, Swift places the strongest emphasis on functional programming.\n\nIn this talk, I will explain the core functional programming features of Swift, including its expressive type system, value types, and mutability control. Furthermore, I will discuss how Swift\u2019s language design is influenced by the desire to create a language that addresses the whole spectrum from low-level systems programming up to high-level applications with sophisticated graphical user interfaces. Beyond the core language itself, functional programming also permeates Swift\u2019s rich ecosystem of libraries. To support this point, I will outline some FP-inspired core libraries, covering concepts from functional data structures over functional reactive programming to declarative user interfaces.\n\nFinally, I will briefly summarise practical considerations for using Swift in your own projects. This includes the cross-platform toolchain, the package manager, and interoperability with other languages.\n\t\nabout this event: https://bobkonf.de/2024/chakravarty.html