A fast Swift diffing library implementing Paul Heckel's algorithm for efficient UITableView and UICollectionView updates.
HeckelDiff is a Swift library that implements Paul Heckel's diffing algorithm to calculate the minimal set of changes between two collections. It solves the problem of efficiently updating user interfaces by providing precise insert, delete, move, and update operations, which is especially valuable for animating changes in UITableView and UICollectionView.
iOS and macOS developers building apps with dynamic content in table views or collection views who need performant, animated updates to their data sources.
Developers choose HeckelDiff for its linear-time performance, seamless UIKit integration, and straightforward API that eliminates the complexity of manually managing batch updates while ensuring smooth animations.
A fast Swift diffing library.
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Implements Paul Heckel's algorithm to compute diffs in O(n) time, ensuring fast operations even for large collections, as highlighted in the README's focus on efficiency.
Provides explicit insert, delete, move, and update steps, making it easy to understand and apply transformations, as shown in the example diff outputs.
Includes built-in applyDiff methods for UITableView and UICollectionView that handle batched animations automatically, reducing boilerplate code for UI updates.
Leverages Hashable conformance to smartly detect updates when elements are equal but not identical, allowing for efficient model changes without full reinsertions.
Limited to UIKit and doesn't support SwiftUI or other Apple frameworks, forcing developers to seek alternative solutions for modern UI paradigms.
Requires all elements to conform to Hashable, which can be restrictive for complex models or lead to hash collisions if not implemented carefully.
Relies on external dependency managers like Carthage or CocoaPods, with no mention of Swift Package Manager, adding setup steps compared to newer Swift projects.