[swift-users] file io in Swift 2.2 for Linux (would like to be pointed in the right direction)

[Quinn "The Eskimo!"]

On 19 May 2016, at 17:38, Jens Alfke <jens at mooseyard.com> wrote:

> I believe Mac/iOS developers usually transfer the entire file because that’s the particular hammer that Foundation provides.

I disagree.  One-shot file system APIs make sense for a lot of reasons:

* It’s generally easier to use.  Consider NSXMLDocument vs NSXMLParser (-:

* It composes well.  Consider the NSXMLDocument example again.  This high-level one-shot API is layered on top of a low-level one-shot API.  Which isn’t to say that you can’t build streaming APIs on top of other streaming APIs, but it’s not exactly easy, and you end up having to build the one-shot ‘convenience’ API anyway.

* It’s atomic on write; other folks looking at the file system never see ‘half’ the file.

* It radically reduces the state space of the API.  When you read a file with a one-shot API, you only have to deal with one possible error.  When you stream through a file, you can get an error at any point.

One of the nice things about the file system is that it has reasonable performance and error characteristics such that you /can/ deal with it synchronously.  Revel in that fact!

I generally find myself streaming through a file only when I’m dealing with some sort of I/O pipeline, which is the exception rather than the rule.

Share and Enjoy
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Quinn "The Eskimo!"                    <http://www.apple.com/developer/>
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware