Xcode 5 Developer Reference

Chapter 9: Saving Time in Xcode

In This Chapter

Using code folding

Editing structure

Refactoring code

Using code snippets

Jumping to a definition

Revealing symbols

Many editing operations are repetitive, while others can help you organize your code more effectively to simplify development and maintenance. Some basic timesaving features are built into Xcode. For example, Xcode 5 creates paired curly brackets automatically. It also adds a matching square bracket at the start of an Objective-C statement if you type the final closing square bracket.

Other features are more complex. Xcode 5 includes these tools:

• Code folding
• Structure editing
• Refactoring
• Code snippets
• Jumping to a definition

Using Code Folding

Code folding is a simple feature that can hide code while it isn’t being edited. It’s a display-only feature that makes it easier for you to concentrate on one section of code without being distracted by surrounding elements.

  CAUTION

It’s easy to activate code folding by accident. If you’re not familiar with this feature, you’ll wonder why most of your code has disappeared and whether you deleted it by accident. It’s important to understand how code folding works, even if you never use it. The code folding gutter described below is very thin, with small gray blocks that indicate delimited code areas. It’s adjacent to the gutter used for debugging. It’s easy to select ...