Merge pull request #2197 from thomasvl/swift_docs

Drop the swift docs directory (and content).

docs/swift/DesignDoc.md

@@ -1,674 +0,0 @@
-# Protocol Buffers in Swift
-
-## Objective
-
-This document describes the user-facing API and internal implementation of
-proto2 and proto3 messages in Apple’s Swift programming language.
-
-One of the key goals of protobufs is to provide idiomatic APIs for each
-language. In that vein, **interoperability with Objective-C is a non-goal of
-this proposal.** Protobuf users who need to pass messages between Objective-C
-and Swift code in the same application should use the existing Objective-C proto
-library. The goal of the effort described here is to provide an API for protobuf
-messages that uses features specific to Swift—optional types, algebraic
-enumerated types, value types, and so forth—in a natural way that will delight,
-rather than surprise, users of the language.
-
-## Naming
-
-*   By convention, both typical protobuf message names and Swift structs/classes
-    are `UpperCamelCase`, so for most messages, the name of a message can be the
-    same as the name of its generated type. (However, see the discussion below
-    about prefixes under [Packages](#packages).)
-
-*   Enum cases in protobufs typically are `UPPERCASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES`, whereas
-    in Swift they are `lowerCamelCase` (as of the Swift 3 API design
-    guidelines). We will transform the names to match Swift convention, using
-    a whitelist similar to the Objective-C compiler plugin to handle commonly
-    used acronyms.
-
-*   Typical fields in proto messages are `lowercase_with_underscores`, while in
-    Swift they are `lowerCamelCase`. We will transform the names to match
-    Swift convention by removing the underscores and uppercasing the subsequent
-    letter.
-
-## Swift reserved words
-
-Swift has a large set of reserved words—some always reserved and some
-contextually reserved (that is, they can be used as identifiers in contexts
-where they would not be confused). As of Swift 2.2, the set of always-reserved
-words is:
-
-```
-_, #available, #column, #else, #elseif, #endif, #file, #function, #if, #line,
-#selector, as, associatedtype, break, case, catch, class, continue, default,
-defer, deinit, do, dynamicType, else, enum, extension, fallthrough, false, for,
-func, guard, if, import, in, init, inout, internal, is, let, nil, operator,
-private, protocol, public, repeat, rethrows, return, self, Self, static,
-struct, subscript, super, switch, throw, throws, true, try, typealias, var,
-where, while
-```
-
-The set of contextually reserved words is:
-
-```
-associativity, convenience, dynamic, didSet, final, get, infix, indirect,
-lazy, left, mutating, none, nonmutating, optional, override, postfix,
-precedence, prefix, Protocol, required, right, set, Type, unowned, weak,
-willSet
-```
-
-It is possible to use any reserved word as an identifier by escaping it with
-backticks (for example, ``let `class` = 5``). Other name-mangling schemes would
-require us to transform the names themselves (for example, by appending an
-underscore), which requires us to then ensure that the new name does not collide
-with something else in the same namespace.
-
-While the backtick feature may not be widely known by all Swift developers, a
-small amount of user education can address this and it seems like the best
-approach. We can unconditionally surround all property names with backticks to
-simplify generation.
-
-Some remapping will still be required, though, to avoid collisions between
-generated properties and the names of methods and properties defined in the base
-protocol/implementation of messages.
-
-# Features of Protocol Buffers
-
-This section describes how the features of the protocol buffer syntaxes (proto2
-and proto3) map to features in Swift—what the code generated from a proto will
-look like, and how it will be implemented in the underlying library.
-
-## Packages
-
-Modules are the main form of namespacing in Swift, but they are not declared
-using syntactic constructs like namespaces in C++ or packages in Java. Instead,
-they are tied to build targets in Xcode (or, in the future with open-source
-Swift, declarations in a Swift Package Manager manifest). They also do not
-easily support nesting submodules (Clang module maps support this, but pure
-Swift does not yet provide a way to define submodules).
-
-We will generate types with fully-qualified underscore-delimited names. For
-example, a message `Baz` in package `foo.bar` would generate a struct named
-`Foo_Bar_Baz`. For each fully-qualified proto message, there will be exactly one
-unique type symbol emitted in the generated binary.
-
-Users are likely to balk at the ugliness of underscore-delimited names for every
-generated type. To improve upon this situation, we will add a new string file
-level option, `swift_package_typealias`, that can be added to `.proto` files.
-When present, this will cause `typealias`es to be added to the generated Swift
-messages that replace the package name prefix with the provided string. For
-example, the following `.proto` file:
-
-```protobuf
-option swift_package_typealias = "FBP";
-package foo.bar;
-
-message Baz {
-  // Message fields
-}
-```
-
-would generate the following Swift source:
-
-```swift
-public struct Foo_Bar_Baz {
-  // Message fields and other methods
-}
-
-typealias FBPBaz = Foo_Bar_Baz
-```
-
-It should be noted that this type alias is recorded in the generated
-`.swiftmodule` so that code importing the module can refer to it, but it does
-not cause a new symbol to be generated in the compiled binary (i.e., we do not
-risk compiled size bloat by adding `typealias`es for every type).
-
-Other strategies to handle packages that were considered and rejected can be
-found in [Appendix A](#appendix-a-rejected-strategies-to-handle-packages).
-
-## Messages
-
-Proto messages are natural value types and we will generate messages as structs
-instead of classes. Users will benefit from Swift’s built-in behavior with
-regard to mutability. We will define a `ProtoMessage` protocol that defines the
-common methods and properties for all messages (such as serialization) and also
-lets users treat messages polymorphically. Any shared method implementations
-that do not differ between individual messages can be implemented in a protocol
-extension.
-
-The backing storage itself for fields of a message will be managed by a
-`ProtoFieldStorage` type that uses an internal dictionary keyed by field number,
-and whose values are the value of the field with that number (up-cast to Swift’s
-`Any` type). This class will provide type-safe getters and setters so that
-generated messages can manipulate this storage, and core serialization logic
-will live here as well. Furthermore, factoring the storage out into a separate
-type, rather than inlining the fields as stored properties in the message
-itself, lets us implement copy-on-write efficiently to support passing around
-large messages. (Furthermore, because the messages themselves are value types,
-inlining fields is not possible if the fields are submessages of the same type,
-or a type that eventually includes a submessage of the same type.)
-
-### Required fields (proto2 only)
-
-Required fields in proto2 messages seem like they could be naturally represented
-by non-optional properties in Swift, but this presents some problems/concerns.
-
-Serialization APIs permit partial serialization, which allows required fields to
-remain unset. Furthermore, other language APIs still provide `has*` and `clear*`
-methods for required fields, and knowing whether a property has a value when the
-message is in memory is still useful.
-
-For example, an e-mail draft message may have the “to” address required on the
-wire, but when the user constructs it in memory, it doesn’t make sense to force
-a value until they provide one. We only want to force a value to be present when
-the message is serialized to the wire. Using non-optional properties prevents
-this use case, and makes client usage awkward because the user would be forced
-to select a sentinel or placeholder value for any required fields at the time
-the message was created.
-
-### Default values
-
-In proto2, fields can have a default value specified that may be a value other
-than the default value for its corresponding language type (for example, a
-default value of 5 instead of 0 for an integer). When reading a field that is
-not explicitly set, the user expects to get that value. This makes Swift
-optionals (i.e., `Foo?`) unsuitable for fields in general. Unfortunately, we
-cannot implement our own “enhanced optional” type without severely complicating
-usage (Swift’s use of type inference and its lack of implicit conversions would
-require manual unwrapping of every property value).
-
-Instead, we can use **implicitly unwrapped optionals.** For example, a property
-generated for a field of type `int32` would have Swift type `Int32!`. These
-properties would behave with the following characteristics, which mirror the
-nil-resettable properties used elsewhere in Apple’s SDKs (for example,
-`UIView.tintColor`):
-
-*   Assigning a non-nil value to a property sets the field to that value.
-*   Assigning nil to a property clears the field (its internal representation is
-    nilled out).
-*   Reading the value of a property returns its value if it is set, or returns
-    its default value if it is not set. Reading a property never returns nil.
-
-The final point in the list above implies that the optional cannot be checked to
-determine if the field is set to a value other than its default: it will never
-be nil. Instead, we must provide `has*` methods for each field to allow the user
-to check this. These methods will be public in proto2. In proto3, these methods
-will be private (if generated at all), since the user can test the returned
-value against the zero value for that type.
-
-### Autocreation of nested messages
-
-For convenience, dotting into an unset field representing a nested message will
-return an instance of that message with default values. As in the Objective-C
-implementation, this does not actually cause the field to be set until the
-returned message is mutated. Fortunately, thanks to the way mutability of value
-types is implemented in Swift, the language automatically handles the
-reassignment-on-mutation for us. A static singleton instance containing default
-values can be associated with each message that can be returned when reading, so
-copies are only made by the Swift runtime when mutation occurs. For example,
-given the following proto:
-
-```protobuf
-message Node {
-  Node child = 1;
-  string value = 2 [default = "foo"];
-}
-```
-
-The following Swift code would act as commented, where setting deeply nested
-properties causes the copies and mutations to occur as the assignment statement
-is unwound:
-
-```swift
-var node = Node()
-
-let s = node.child.child.value
-// 1. node.child returns the "default Node".
-// 2. Reading .child on the result of (1) returns the same default Node.
-// 3. Reading .value on the result of (2) returns the default value "foo".
-
-node.child.child.value = "bar"
-// 4. Setting .value on the default Node causes a copy to be made and sets
-//    the property on that copy. Subsequently, the language updates the
-//    value of "node.child.child" to point to that copy.
-// 5. Updating "node.child.child" in (4) requires another copy, because
-//    "node.child" was also the instance of the default node. The copy is
-//    assigned back to "node.child".
-// 6. Setting "node.child" in (5) is a simple value reassignment, since
-//    "node" is a mutable var.
-```
-
-In other words, the generated messages do not internally have to manage parental
-relationships to backfill the appropriate properties on mutation. Swift provides
-this for free.
-
-## Scalar value fields
-
-Proto scalar value fields will map to Swift types in the following way:
-
-.proto Type | Swift Type
------------ | -------------------
-`double`    | `Double`
-`float`     | `Float`
-`int32`     | `Int32`
-`int64`     | `Int64`
-`uint32`    | `UInt32`
-`uint64`    | `UInt64`
-`sint32`    | `Int32`
-`sint64`    | `Int64`
-`fixed32`   | `UInt32`
-`fixed64`   | `UInt64`
-`sfixed32`  | `Int32`
-`sfixed64`  | `Int64`
-`bool`      | `Bool`
-`string`    | `String`
-`bytes`     | `Foundation.NSData`
-
-The proto spec defines a number of integral types that map to the same Swift
-type; for example, `intXX`, `sintXX`, and `sfixedXX` are all signed integers,
-and `uintXX` and `fixedXX` are both unsigned integers. No other language
-implementation distinguishes these further, so we do not do so either. The
-rationale is that the various types only serve to distinguish how the value is
-**encoded on the wire**; once loaded in memory, the user is not concerned about
-these variations.
-
-Swift’s lack of implicit conversions among types will make it slightly annoying
-to use these types in a context expecting an `Int`, or vice-versa, but since
-this is a data-interchange format with explicitly-sized fields, we should not
-hide that information from the user. Users will have to explicitly write
-`Int(message.myField)`, for example.
-
-## Embedded message fields
-
-Embedded message fields can be represented using an optional variable of the
-generated message type. Thus, the message
-
-```protobuf
-message Foo {
-  Bar bar = 1;
-}
-```
-
-would be represented in Swift as
-
-```swift
-public struct Foo: ProtoMessage {
-  public var bar: Bar! {
-    get { ... }
-    set { ... }
-  }
-}
-```
-
-If the user explicitly sets `bar` to nil, or if it was never set when read from
-the wire, retrieving the value of `bar` would return a default, statically
-allocated instance of `Bar` containing default values for its fields. This
-achieves the desired behavior for default values in the same way that scalar
-fields are designed, and also allows users to deep-drill into complex object
-graphs to get or set fields without checking for nil at each step.
-
-## Enum fields
-
-The design and implementation of enum fields will differ somewhat drastically
-depending on whether the message being generated is a proto2 or proto3 message.
-
-### proto2 enums
-
-For proto2, we do not need to be concerned about unknown enum values, so we can
-use the simple raw-value enum syntax provided by Swift. So the following enum in
-proto2:
-
-```protobuf
-enum ContentType {
-  TEXT = 0;
-  IMAGE = 1;
-}
-```
-
-would become this Swift enum:
-
-```swift
-public enum ContentType: Int32, NilLiteralConvertible {
-  case text = 0
-  case image = 1
-
-  public init(nilLiteral: ()) {
-    self = .text
-  }
-}
-```
-
-See below for the discussion about `NilLiteralConvertible`.
-
-### proto3 enums
-
-For proto3, we need to be able to preserve unknown enum values that may come
-across the wire so that they can be written back if unmodified. We can
-accomplish this in Swift by using a case with an associated value for unknowns.
-So the following enum in proto3:
-
-```protobuf
-enum ContentType {
-  TEXT = 0;
-  IMAGE = 1;
-}
-```
-
-would become this Swift enum:
-
-```swift
-public enum ContentType: RawRepresentable, NilLiteralConvertible {
-  case text
-  case image
-  case UNKNOWN_VALUE(Int32)
-
-  public typealias RawValue = Int32
-
-  public init(nilLiteral: ()) {
-    self = .text
-  }
-
-  public init(rawValue: RawValue) {
-    switch rawValue {
-      case 0: self = .text
-      case 1: self = .image
-      default: self = .UNKNOWN_VALUE(rawValue)
-  }
-
-  public var rawValue: RawValue {
-    switch self {
-      case .text: return 0
-      case .image: return 1
-      case .UNKNOWN_VALUE(let value): return value
-    }
-  }
-}
-```
-
-Note that the use of a parameterized case prevents us from inheriting from the
-raw `Int32` type; Swift does not allow an enum with a raw type to have cases
-with arguments. Instead, we must implement the raw value initializer and
-computed property manually. The `UNKNOWN_VALUE` case is explicitly chosen to be
-"ugly" so that it stands out and does not conflict with other possible case
-names.
-
-Using this approach, proto3 consumers must always have a default case or handle
-the `.UNKNOWN_VALUE` case to satisfy case exhaustion in a switch statement; the
-Swift compiler considers it an error if switch statements are not exhaustive.
-
-### NilLiteralConvertible conformance
-
-This is required to clean up the usage of enum-typed properties in switch
-statements. Unlike other field types, enum properties cannot be
-implicitly-unwrapped optionals without requiring that uses in switch statements
-be explicitly unwrapped. For example, if we consider a message with the enum
-above, this usage will fail to compile:
-
-```swift
-// Without NilLiteralConvertible conformance on ContentType
-public struct SomeMessage: ProtoMessage {
-  public var contentType: ContentType! { ... }
-}
-
-// ERROR: no case named text or image
-switch someMessage.contentType {
-  case .text: { ... }
-  case .image: { ... }
-}
-```
-
-Even though our implementation guarantees that `contentType` will never be nil,
-if it is an optional type, its cases would be `some` and `none`, not the cases
-of the underlying enum type. In order to use it in this context, the user must
-write `someMessage.contentType!` in their switch statement.
-
-Making the enum itself `NilLiteralConvertible` permits us to make the property
-non-optional, so the user can still set it to nil to clear it (i.e., reset it to
-its default value), while eliminating the need to explicitly unwrap it in a
-switch statement.
-
-```swift
-// With NilLiteralConvertible conformance on ContentType
-public struct SomeMessage: ProtoMessage {
-  // Note that the property type is no longer optional
-  public var contentType: ContentType { ... }
-}
-
-// OK: Compiles and runs as expected
-switch someMessage.contentType {
-  case .text: { ... }
-  case .image: { ... }
-}
-
-// The enum can be reset to its default value this way
-someMessage.contentType = nil
-```
-
-One minor oddity with this approach is that nil will be auto-converted to the
-default value of the enum in any context, not just field assignment. In other
-words, this is valid:
-
-```swift
-func foo(contentType: ContentType) { ... }
-foo(nil) // Inside foo, contentType == .text
-```
-
-That being said, the advantage of being able to simultaneously support
-nil-resettability and switch-without-unwrapping outweighs this side effect,
-especially if appropriately documented. It is our hope that a new form of
-resettable properties will be added to Swift that eliminates this inconsistency.
-Some community members have already drafted or sent proposals for review that
-would benefit our designs:
-
-*   [SE-0030: Property Behaviors]
-    (https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0030-property-behavior-decls.md)
-*   [Drafted: Resettable Properties]
-    (https://github.com/patters/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0000-resettable-properties.md)
-
-### Enum aliases
-
-The `allow_alias` option in protobuf slightly complicates the use of Swift enums
-to represent that type, because raw values of cases in an enum must be unique.
-Swift lets us define static variables in an enum that alias actual cases. For
-example, the following protobuf enum:
-
-```protobuf
-enum Foo {
-  option allow_alias = true;
-  BAR = 0;
-  BAZ = 0;
-}
-```
-
-will be represented in Swift as:
-
-```swift
-public enum Foo: Int32, NilLiteralConvertible {
-  case bar = 0
-  static public let baz = bar
-
-  // ... etc.
-}
-
-// Can still use .baz shorthand to reference the alias in contexts
-// where the type is inferred
-```
-
-That is, we use the first name as the actual case and use static variables for
-the other aliases. One drawback to this approach is that the static aliases
-cannot be used as cases in a switch statement (the compiler emits the error
-*“Enum case ‘baz’ not found in type ‘Foo’”*). However, in our own code bases,
-there are only a few places where enum aliases are not mere renamings of an
-older value, but they also don’t appear to be the type of value that one would
-expect to switch on (for example, a group of named constants representing
-metrics rather than a set of options), so this restriction is not significant.
-
-This strategy also implies that changing the name of an enum and adding the old
-name as an alias below the new name will be a breaking change in the generated
-Swift code.
-
-## Oneof types
-
-The `oneof` feature represents a “variant/union” data type that maps nicely to
-Swift enums with associated values (algebraic types). These fields can also be
-accessed independently though, and, specifically in the case of proto2, it’s
-reasonable to expect access to default values when accessing a field that is not
-explicitly set.
-
-Taking all this into account, we can represent a `oneof` in Swift with two sets
-of constructs:
-
-*   Properties in the message that correspond to the `oneof` fields.
-*   A nested enum named after the `oneof` and which provides the corresponding
-    field values as case arguments.
-
-This approach fulfills the needs of proto consumers by providing a
-Swift-idiomatic way of simultaneously checking which field is set and accessing
-its value, providing individual properties to access the default values
-(important for proto2), and safely allows a field to be moved into a `oneof`
-without breaking clients.
-
-Consider the following proto:
-
-```protobuf
-message MyMessage {
-  oneof record {
-    string name = 1 [default = "unnamed"];
-    int32 id_number = 2 [default = 0];
-  }
-}
-```
-
-In Swift, we would generate an enum, a property for that enum, and properties
-for the fields themselves:
-
-```swift
-public struct MyMessage: ProtoMessage {
-  public enum Record: NilLiteralConvertible {
-    case name(String)
-    case idNumber(Int32)
-    case NOT_SET
-
-    public init(nilLiteral: ()) { self = .NOT_SET }
-  }
-
-  // This is the "Swifty" way of accessing the value
-  public var record: Record { ... }
-
-  // Direct access to the underlying fields
-  public var name: String! { ... }
-  public var idNumber: Int32! { ... }
-}
-```
-
-This makes both usage patterns possible:
-
-```swift
-// Usage 1: Case-based dispatch
-switch message.record {
-  case .name(let name):
-    // Do something with name if it was explicitly set
-  case .idNumber(let id):
-    // Do something with id_number if it was explicitly set
-  case .NOT_SET:
-    // Do something if it’s not set
-}
-
-// Usage 2: Direct access for default value fallback
-// Sets the label text to the name if it was explicitly set, or to
-// "unnamed" (the default value for the field) if id_number was set
-// instead
-let myLabel = UILabel()
-myLabel.text = message.name
-```
-
-As with proto enums, the generated `oneof` enum conforms to
-`NilLiteralConvertible` to avoid switch statement issues. Setting the property
-to nil will clear it (i.e., reset it to `NOT_SET`).
-
-## Unknown Fields (proto2 only)
-
-To be written.
-
-## Extensions (proto2 only)
-
-To be written.
-
-## Reflection and Descriptors
-
-We will not include reflection or descriptors in the first version of the Swift
-library. The use cases for reflection on mobile are not as strong and the static
-data to represent the descriptors would add bloat when we wish to keep the code
-size small.
-
-In the future, we will investigate whether they can be included as extensions
-which might be able to be excluded from a build and/or automatically dead
-stripped by the compiler if they are not used.
-
-## Appendix A: Rejected strategies to handle packages
-
-### Each package is its own Swift module
-
-Each proto package could be declared as its own Swift module, replacing dots
-with underscores (e.g., package `foo.bar` becomes module `Foo_Bar`). Then, users
-would simply import modules containing whatever proto modules they want to use
-and refer to the generated types by their short names.
-
-**This solution is simply not possible, however.** Swift modules cannot
-circularly reference each other, but there is no restriction against proto
-packages doing so. Circular imports are forbidden (e.g., `foo.proto` importing
-`bar.proto` importing `foo.proto`), but nothing prevents package `foo` from
-using a type in package `bar` which uses a different type in package `foo`, as
-long as there is no import cycle. If these packages were generated as Swift
-modules, then `Foo` would contain an `import Bar` statement and `Bar` would
-contain an `import Foo` statement, and there is no way to compile this.
-
-### Ad hoc namespacing with structs
-
-We can “fake” namespaces in Swift by declaring empty structs with private
-initializers. Since modules are constructed based on compiler arguments, not by
-syntactic constructs, and because there is no pure Swift way to define
-submodules (even though Clang module maps support this), there is no
-source-drive way to group generated code into namespaces aside from this
-approach.
-
-Types can be added to those intermediate package structs using Swift extensions.
-For example, a message `Baz` in package `foo.bar` could be represented in Swift
-as follows:
-
-```swift
-public struct Foo {
-  private init() {}
-}
-
-public extension Foo {
-  public struct Bar {
-    private init() {}
-  }
-}
-
-public extension Foo.Bar {
-  public struct Baz {
-    // Message fields and other methods
-  }
-}
-
-let baz = Foo.Bar.Baz()
-```
-
-Each of these constructs would actually be defined in a separate file; Swift
-lets us keep them separate and add multiple structs to a single “namespace”
-through extensions.
-
-Unfortunately, these intermediate structs generate symbols of their own
-(metatype information in the data segment). This becomes problematic if multiple
-build targets contain Swift sources generated from different messages in the
-same package. At link time, these symbols would collide, resulting in multiple
-definition errors.
-
-This approach also has the disadvantage that there is no automatic “short” way
-to refer to the generated messages at the deepest nesting levels; since this use
-of structs is a hack around the lack of namespaces, there is no equivalent to
-import (Java) or using (C++) to simplify this. Users would have to declare type
-aliases to make this cleaner, or we would have to generate them for users.