Swift Style

Chapter 2Adopt Conventional Styling

Conventional style is like a window. You look through to see the code intent or landscape that lies beyond it. When there’s a streak on the window or an unconventional use in code, programmers naturally fixate on the wrong thing. It’s not just the compiler that needs to read your code. Well-written code, like a window, is invisible. You don’t stop and say, "Wow, that’s especially well written." You pay attention only when styling choices have failed for some reason.

It’s natural to pick up on odd style choices. Many brilliant and insightful blog posts play host to comment sections that are full of corrections concerning typos and grammar errors. It’s the same impulse that distracts you when noticing a wad ...