[swift-evolution] Visualizing type hierarchy

[Sebastian Grommes]

Hi guys,

I am an informatics student and new to Swift / this mailing list - coming
from Java. So please bare with me. One idea i had:

Whenever i start working with a new Framework, it feels like a total
clusterfuck, getting to know what works in which way and why. Especially
understanding the frameworks type / protocol hierarchy. Now, when
programming, i always try to visualize what i do in my head. My brain
automatically creates pictures like in UML. When working with Swift i
noticed that it is particulary hard to try and grasp a completely new
Framework / it's inner structure visually, because POP differs from OOP.

What i would really like for Swift to have is a feature that visualizes
your current code structure in UML /something similar. Something like this
should be the result: http://swiftdoc.org/v3.0/type/Int/hierarchy/

A visualized output like the one i linked could be improved still quite a
bit:
- visualize conditional conformances
- visualize associatedtypes
- make the output dynamic / interactable
- and much more..

I know this isn't really a language feature, but it's closely related. If
such a feature could be added, provided by the compiler, integrated into
IDEs, that would really help a lot understanding new Frameworks.

If such a feature already exists, my apologies.

Best reguards,
SG
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