Question 1

How to use SwiftSafe for a thread-safe dictionary in Swift?

Accepted Answer

Import SwiftSafe, create a Safe object (e.g., CREW() for read-heavy cases), and wrap accesses to the dictionary in `read` and `write` closures, similar to the cache example in the README. This protects shared resources from race conditions with minimal code.

Question 2

SwiftSafe vs using Grand Central Dispatch directly: which is better?

Accepted Answer

SwiftSafe is better for developers who want a simpler, more expressive API that reduces GCD boilerplate and clarifies intent. However, for advanced GCD features or fine-tuned control, direct GCD usage might be preferable, as SwiftSafe abstracts away some flexibility.

Question 3

What's the difference between EREW and CREW in SwiftSafe?

Accepted Answer

EREW allows only one thread to read or write at a time, preventing concurrent access but prone to deadlocks. CREW enables multiple threads to read simultaneously while ensuring exclusive writes, optimizing for read-heavy scenarios with automatic read-write exclusivity.

Question 4

Is SwiftSafe compatible with Swift 5 and async/await?

Accepted Answer

SwiftSafe supports Swift 3.0+ and iOS 8.0+, so it works with Swift 5, but it doesn't integrate directly with async/await. You'd need to wrap SwiftSafe calls within async contexts, as it relies on GCD-based synchronization.

Question 5

How does SwiftSafe prevent race conditions in practice?

Accepted Answer

By using GCD queues under the hood, SwiftSafe serializes access to shared resources via `read` and `write` closures, ensuring that only one thread modifies data at a time (for writes) or allows safe concurrent reads with CREW, maintaining internal invariants.

Question 6

Can SwiftSafe be used for server-side Swift projects?

Accepted Answer

No, SwiftSafe is designed for Apple ecosystems (iOS/macOS) as it depends on Grand Central Dispatch. For server-side Swift, consider platform-agnostic concurrency libraries or Swift's built-in tools like actors in Swift 5.5+.

SwiftSafe

What is SwiftSafe?

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