TDD in Xcode – Can’t Refactor Swift Code

Red. Green. Refactor. That’s how I’ve memorized the steps for test driven development. Uncle Bob breaks them into a little more detail if you’re interested in something a little more long form. TDD in Xcode is pretty seamless, until you get to the refactor step. Xcode can’t automatically can’t refactor Swift code.

Refactoring Is Broken For Swift Code

Xcode does not currently support any refactoring of Swift code. If you attempt to use Xcode’s builtin refactoring tools, you see this:

. From my earliest days of writing Swift, this has gotten under my skin. This is friction to my flow. I want my IDE to make it feel like I’m coasting downhill, rather than going up an incline.

Additionally, I also take this as a sign at Swift’s maturity. I’ve since come to see the light, and no longer question Swift’s long term viability, but either way an error message like this should be embarrassing for Apple. And then the fact that it hasn’t changed in almost 2 years…

For more context, if you right click in Swift code to bring up the context menu, any of the options in the Refactor menu show that error message.

Consider An Alternative – AppCode

This weekend I downloaded App Code by JetBrains. I’ve never tried it. Recently it specifically caught my eye that two people I respect, Orta Therox and Jon Reid, evangelize it and use it. JetBrain’s IDEs are renown for the abilities to support test driven development and refactoring. I’m looking forward to giving it a go. I’m in the 30-day trial right now, and I’m committed to learning all it has to offer to make my own impression. So far, I’ve been able to open a non-trivial project and run it in the iOS simulator, no issues. Next, I’m going to do some research about how to best use it, what it offers, and immerse myself in it. I’ll report back here along the way with my findings. I’m just hoping that while Xcode can’t refactor Swift code, I have better luck with AppCode.

Happy cleaning.