Mastering Swift: A comprensive guide on Lazy variables

What are lazy types?

Lazy types are used in Swift to delay the computation or initialization of a value until it is actually required. This can be useful for improving performance and reducing memory usage, particularly when initializing a value is costly or time-consuming.

The Lazy keyword in Swift

In Swift, use the lazy keyword followed by the type of the value you want to create to create a lazy type. For example, assume you have a MyLazyClass class with a property called myLazyProperty that takes a long time to initialize. You can make a lazy version of this property by doing the following:

class MyLazyClass {
    lazy var myLazyProperty: String = {
        // code to initialize myLazyProperty goes here
        return "Lazy initialization complete!"
    }()
}

The myLazyProperty property is declared as a lazy var of type String in this example. The property’s initialization code is contained within a closure, which is passed as an argument to the lazy var declaration. When the myLazyProperty property is first accessed, the closure is executed.

It is important to note that in Swift, lazy types are always computed properties, even if they are initialized with a constant value. This means they can’t be used as stored properties and must always be declared as var instead of let.

In Swift, lazy types can also be used with functions and methods. In this case, rather than being defined, the function or method is only executed when it is called:

func myLazyFunction() -> String {
    print("This function is lazy!")
    return "Lazy function executed!"
}

lazy var lazyResult = myLazyFunction()

print("This code is not lazy!")
print(lazyResult)

The myLazyFunction function is defined in this example to print a message and return a string. The lazyResult variable is declared as a lazy type and is set to the outcome of calling myLazyFunction(). The print statement follows the variable declaration and is not lazy; it is executed immediately. When lazyResult is printed, myLazyFunction() is finally called and the result is returned.

Examples of lazy application

Cache mechanism

Implementing a caching mechanism is a use case for lazy types in Swift. A lazy var can be used to cache the result of a computation the first time it is performed and then return the cached value for subsequent calls. This can be useful for expensive computations that are called frequently because it improves performance significantly:

class ExpensiveComputation {
    lazy var cachedResult: Int = {
        let result = performExpensiveComputation()
        return result
    }()

    func getResult() -> Int {
        return cachedResult
    }

    private func performExpensiveComputation() -> Int {
        // Code to perform expensive computation goes here
        return 100
    }
}

let computation = ExpensiveComputation()
print(computation.getResult()) // This will perform the expensive computation and cache the result
print(computation.getResult()) // This will return the cached result without performing the expensive computation again

In this example, the ExpensiveComputation class defines a cachedResult property, which is declared as a lazy var. This property is initialized with a closure that performs the expensive computation and caches the result the first time the property is accessed. Then, the subsequent getResult() calls simply return the cached result.

Properties initiaization

Another application for lazy types in Swift is to initialize class or struct properties that rely on other properties. Use a lazy var to ensure that all dependent properties are initialized before the dependent property is initialized. This can assist you in avoiding circular dependencies and better organizing your code.

struct Point {
    let x: Int
    let y: Int

    lazy var distanceFromOrigin: Double = {
        let distance = sqrt(Double(x * x + y * y))
        return distance
    }()

    init(x: Int, y: Int) {
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
    }
}

let point = Point(x: 3, y: 4)
print(point.distanceFromOrigin) // This will initialize and return the distanceFromOrigin property

In this example, Point defines a distanceFromOrigin property which is declared as a lazy var. The property is initialized with a closure that computes the distance from the origin by using the struct’s x and y properties. Because the distanceFromOrigin property is dependent on the x and y properties, it cannot be set until those properties are set. We can ensure that all dependencies are initialized before the distanceFromOrigin property is initialized by using a lazy var.

### Lazy views Using UIView, lazy initialization can be used to postpone the building of the view hierarchy until the view is actually shown on the screen. By minimizing the amount of work required before the view is displayed, this can enhance performance. For example:

import UIKit

class MyViewController: UIViewController {
    
    // Define a lazy variable to store the label view
    lazy var lazyLabel: UILabel = {
        let label = UILabel()
        label.text = "Hello, world!"
        label.textColor = .black
        label.textAlignment = .center
        label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 24)
        return label
    }()
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        print("Starting viewDidLoad...")
        
        // Do some work that doesn't require the label view
        for i in 0..<10 {
            print("Working on iteration \(i)")
        }
        
        // Add the label view to the view hierarchy
        view.addSubview(lazyLabel)
        lazyLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            lazyLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor),
            lazyLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor)
        ])
    }
}

let myViewController = MyViewController()

In this example, we have a MyViewController view controller with a lazy var called lazyLabel, which is a UILabel object that is created with a closure that specifies the text, font, color, and alignment of the label.

As ou can see, we do some work that does not require the label view in viewDidLoad(), such as a loop that prints out some messages. The label view is then added to the view hierarchy by making it a subview of the view controller’s view and enabling constraints to center it in the view.

When we run MyViewController, we see that the message “Starting viewDidLoad…" is printed first, then the messages from the loop, and finally the label is added to the view hierarchy. This demonstrates the advantages of lazy initialization with views, because we can postpone the creation of the view hierarchy until the view is actually displayed on the screen, which can improve performance by reducing the amount of work required before the view is displayed.

Network requests

Lazy initialization can be also used with network requests to postpone request execution until it is actually required. This can be beneficial for applications that make frequent network requests because it reduces unnecessary network traffic.

import Foundation

class MyAPI {
    
    // Define a lazy variable to store the network response
    lazy var networkLazyResponse: String = {
        // Perform the network request
        guard let url = URL(string: "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1") else {
            fatalError("Invalid URL")
        }
        let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: url) { (data, response, error) in
            guard let data = data, error == nil else {
                fatalError("Network error: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "Unknown error")")
            }
            guard let responseString = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else {
                fatalError("Couldn't convert response data to string")
            }
            self.networkResponse = responseString // Store the response in the lazy variable
        }
        task.resume()
        return "Performing network request..."
    }()
    
    func doSomethingWithNetworkResponse() {
        // Use the network response
        print(networkLazyResponse)
    }
}

let myAPI = MyAPI()
myAPI.doSomethingWithNetworkResponse()

In this example, we have a MyAPI class with a lazy var called networkLazyResponse, which is defined as a string with the initial value “Performing network request…". The network request is carried out within the closure that initializes the lazy var. The response to the network request is saved in the networkLazyResponse variable once it has been completed.

The networkLazyResponse variable is then used in a function called doSomethingWithNetworkResponse(), and, when we create an instance of MyAPI and call doSomethingWithNetworkResponse(), we can see that the message “Performing network request…" is printed first, followed by the actual network response once the network request is complete.

Lazy sequences

The use of lazy keyword in a sequence allows for the postponement of sequence operations until they are required. This is useful when you have a long sequence of items to load and don’t want to do so all at once. Instead, you can load them as needed, which improves performance and reduces memory usage.

You can use the lazy method on an existing sequence to create a lazy sequence. This method returns a lazy sequence wrapper that can be used to perform sequence operations in a lazy manner. For example, if you have an array of numbers and want to filter out all of the even numbers, you can use a lazy sequence and perform the filter operation on demand:

let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
let filteredNumbers = numbers.lazy.filter { $0 % 2 == 1 }

In this case, we have an array of numbers ranging from 1 to 10. We use the lazy property to apply a filter closure to the array, keeping only the odd numbers by determining whether the remainder of the number divided by 2 equals 1.

The filter closure is not executed immediately with lazy loading, but only when we access the elements of the sequence. This means that if we only need the odd numbers, we can save processing time and memory by using lazy loading rather than computing the entire filtered array in advance.

We can use the lazy property to perform operations on large arrays efficiently and with little impact on performance.

Pros and cons of lazy var

Pros

• Improved performance. By deferring the computation of values until they are actually required, lazy initialization can improve performance by reducing unnecessary computations.
• Reduced memory usage. By deferring value initialization until it is required, lazy types can reduce memory usage, particularly for values that are expensive to compute or require a large amount of memory.
• Simplified initialization. Lazy initialization can be used to simplify the initialization of objects with complex dependencies by deferring the initialization of dependent properties until they are actually required.

Cons

• Increased code complexity. Because lazy initialization necessitates the use of closures, it can introduce new dependencies between properties and methods.
• Thread safety. In multi-threaded environments, lazy initialization can be problematic because multiple threads may attempt to access the same lazy property at the same time. If the property is not properly protected, this can result in race conditions and other synchronization issues.
• Increased memory usage. Lazy initialization can reduce memory usage in some cases, but it can also increase memory usage in others because it requires the use of closures to defer initialization.

Conclusion

In Swift, lazy initialization is a potent technique that can enhance efficiency and simplify your code. You can eliminate extraneous computations or data loading by waiting the creation of a variable until it is truly required, which can result in speedier and more effective code. To avoid problems like unexpected behavior if the variable is accessed before it has been initialized, it’s crucial to know when to utilize and when to avoid lazy initialization. You may utilize lazy initialization to create more effective, manageable code in your Swift applications by keeping these things in mind.