SwiftData API

[roanutil]

SwiftData

Overview

With the announcement of SwiftData this week, I'm beginning work on adapting the CoreDataRepository approach to the new framework. This discussion will give anybody interested the opportunity to participate in shaping the new API.

If you're interested to see progress, the working branch for SwiftData is creatively named swift-data. https://github.com/roanutil/CoreDataRepository/tree/swift-data

Packaging

For now, I'm developing the SwiftData API in a separate target of this package. However, the argument could be made for it to live in the CoreDataRepository target (although maybe renamed) or in its own package.

API

UnmanagedModel Equivalent Name

To start, I'm working with a single protocol for the value type called, PersistentModelProxy. This protocol will handle everything the RepositoryManagedModel and UnamangedModel do for CoreData. I hope to get a macro working that can handle the PersistentModelProxy implementation. However, it might turnout that the API will need to bend to match what is best for macro development.

PeristentIdentifier Storage

For CoreData, we have the benefit of the NSManagedObjectID being encoded as an URL on the value type. I'm not seeing a similar feature in SwiftData. There is the possibility of encoding the PersistentIdentifer to Data and storing it in a 'tagged' or 'phantom' type. The down side of that, is cost of encoding and decoding the identifier for each resource on every transaction.