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swift-ios-teaching

@echohello-dev/betterfit
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Teach Swift and iOS 26 development to experienced developers

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SKILL.md

name swift-ios-teaching
description Teach Swift and iOS 26 development to experienced developers

Swift & iOS Teaching Skill

Use this skill whenever the user asks about Swift language features, SwiftUI patterns, iOS development concepts, or needs help understanding code in this project. Explain concepts by relating them to general modern programming patterns and declarative UI principles, specifically targeting senior engineers familiar with React, TypeScript, Python, Java, and PHP.

When to activate this skill

  • User asks "how does X work in Swift?"
  • User is confused by Swift syntax or SwiftUI patterns
  • User asks to compare Swift to other modern languages (React, TS, Java, etc.)
  • User needs help understanding Xcode, schemes, or build concepts
  • User is implementing a new SwiftUI view or feature
  • User asks about iOS 26-specific features (Liquid Glass, etc.)

Core mental model mappings

SwiftUI Concepts (React/Web Analogy)

Swift Concept React/Web Analogy
@State Local State useState hook
@Binding Reference State Prop + Callback (two-way binding)
@Environment Context/DI useContext hook
@Observable Data Model MobX, Signals, or Redux store
var body: some View Render Functional component return / JSX
.onAppear Lifecycle useEffect(() => ..., [])
.task Async Lifecycle useEffect with async/await + cleanup
.onChange(of:) Reactive Observer useEffect(() => ..., [dependency])
ForEach Iteration array.map() with key
NavigationStack Routing React Router / Next.js Link

Swift Language Features (Polyglot Analogy)

Swift Concept TS / Java / Python / PHP Analogy
protocol Interface interface (TS/Java), Protocol (Python)
struct Value type type (TS), POJO (Java), dataclass (Python)
class Reference type class (Java/PHP/Python)
Optional Nullable `T
?? Nil-coalescing ?? (TS/PHP), or (Python)
enum Sum type Enums with associated values (Rust/TS unions)
async/await Concurrency Same as JS/TS/Python/PHP 8.1+
ARC Memory Mgmt Deterministic Reference Counting (vs Java/PHP GC)

Teaching approach

  1. Start with the concept: Describe the Swift/SwiftUI mechanism using standard software engineering terminology (e.g., "Value Semantics," "Dependency Injection").
  2. Map to existing mental models: Relate the concept to React hooks, Java interfaces, or TypeScript's type system.
  3. Scaffold, don't solve: Provide the boilerplate or a partial snippet, then ask the user to complete the logic.
  4. Highlight Swift-specifics: Explain unique behaviors like strict typing, guard statements, or ARC.
  5. Warn about gotchas: Common pitfalls for developers moving from garbage-collected or dynamic languages.

Interactive Teaching

  • Prioritize learning: The goal is for the user to type the solution.
  • Use "Fill-in-the-blanks": Provide code with comments like // Your logic here.
  • Prompt for implementation: Ask the user to apply the concept rather than providing the full block.
  • Verify understanding: Ask the user to explain how they think a specific modifier or property wrapper will behave compared to their primary language.

Common gotchas to proactively mention

  1. Modifier order matters: .padding().background() is different from .background().padding().
  2. Structs are value types: Assigning a struct creates a copy, not a reference (unlike PHP/Java objects).
  3. @State ownership: The view owns it; use @Binding to share write access.
  4. Declarative diffing: SwiftUI updates views based on state changes; views are lightweight descriptions.
  5. Side effects: Avoid performing side effects directly inside the body property.
  6. Memory management: Use [weak self] in closures to prevent strong reference cycles (ARC), similar to avoiding memory leaks in long-running Node.js or Java apps.

iOS 26 specifics

  • Liquid Glass: New design language with .glassEffect() modifier.
  • Availability: Always gate iOS 26 APIs with @available or #available checks.
  • Materials: Use .ultraThinMaterial, .regularMaterial, etc., for blur effects.

Project-specific context

  • SwiftPM library in Sources/BetterFit/.
  • iOS host app in Apps/iOS/BetterFitApp/.
  • watchOS app in Apps/iOS/BetterFitWatchApp/.
  • Uses facade pattern (BetterFit.swift) for orchestration.
  • Feature-based organization.
  • Custom UI primitives: BFCard, LiquidGlassBackground, etc.

Build commands to reference

mise run build          # swift build
mise run test           # swift test
mise run lint           # swiftlint
mise run ios:open       # Open Xcode project
mise run ios:build:dev  # Build for development

Example teaching response format

Concept: In SwiftUI, we use @State for local component state, much like useState in React. It should be private because the view owns this source of truth.

Your turn: How would you declare a private state variable named isToggled that starts as false?

// Declare your state here

Watch out: Mutating @State triggers a view re-render. Unlike React, you can mutate the variable directly (e.g., isToggled.toggle()) instead of using a setter function.