Swift Data Structure and Algorithms

Key Features

• Develop a deep understanding of the collections in the Swift Standard Library with this step-by-step guide
• Develop native Swift data structures and algorithms for use in mobile, desktop, and server-based applications
• Learn about performance efficiency between different data structures and algorithms

Book Description

Apple's Swift language has expressive features that are familiar to those working with modern functional languages, but also provides backward support for Objective-C and Apple's legacy frameworks. These features are attracting many new developers to start creating applications for OS X and iOS using Swift.

Designing an application to scale while processing large amounts of data or provide fast and efficient searching can be complex, especially running on mobile devices with limited memory and bandwidth. Learning about best practices and knowing how to select the best data structure and algorithm in Swift is crucial to the success of your application and will help ensure your application is a success. That's what this book will teach you.

Starting at the beginning, this book will cover the basic data structures and Swift types, and introduce asymptotic analysis. You'll learn about the standard library collections and bridging between Swift and Objective-C collections. You will see how to implement advanced data structures, sort algorithms, work with trees, advanced searching methods, use graphs, and performance and algorithm efficiency. You'll also see how to choose the perfect algorithm for your problem.

What you will learn

• Get to know about the basic data structures and how to use the Swift REPL
• Use the Swift Standard Library collections bridging to Objective-C collections, and find out about protocol-oriented programming
• Find out about Swift generators and sequences, and see how to use them to implement advanced data structures such as Stack, StackList, Queue, and LinkedList
• Implement sorting algorithms such as Insertion Sort, Merge Sort, and Quick Sort and understand the performance trade-offs between them
• See how to implement various binary trees, B-Tree, and Splay Trees
• Perform advanced searching methods using Red-Black trees, AVL trees, and Trie trees, and take a look at several substring search algorithms
• Get to know about the data structures used in graphs and how to implement graphs such as depth-first search, breadth-first search, directed graphs, spanning tree, and shortest path
• Explore algorithm efficiency and see how to measure it

Erik Azar is a computer scientist with over 20 years of professional experience of architecting and developing scalable, high-performance desktop, web, and mobile applications in the areas of network engineering, system management and security, and enterprise business services, having worked in diverse positions in companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. He has been developing applications on macOS and iOS since attending his first WWDC in 2007, when Apple announced the initial iPhone. Erik is an expert developer and architect for Availity, LLC, based in Jacksonville, Florida, where he works with teams to deliver software solutions in the healthcare industry. Erik has performed technical reviews for several Packt Publishing books on Java RESTful APIs and security, enjoying the experience so much he decided to write his first book for Packt Publishing. When Erik is not being a geek, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Rebecca, and his three kids, and getting out to ride his motorcycle up and down the Florida coast.

Mario Eguiluz Alebicto is a software engineer with over 10 years of experience in development. He started developing software with Java, switched later to Objective-C when the first iPhone delighted the world, and now he is also working with Swift. He founded his own startup to develop mobile applications for small companies and local shops. He has developed apps for different Fortune 500 companies and also for new disrupting startups since 2011. Now, he is working as a contractor in mobile applications, while writing technical and teaching materials whenever possible. Apart from software development, Mario loves to travel, learn new things, play sports, and has considered himself a hardcore gamer since he was a child.