Swift Architecture: Exploring MVC, MVVM and VIPER
Swift is a powerful and popular language for iOS development. It has been around since 2014 and continues to be the language of choice for many developers. As the language has evolved, so have the architectures used to create apps with it. In this article, we will explore three different architectures that can be used for Swift development: Model-View-Controller (MVC), Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) and View-Interactor-Presenter-Entity (VIPER).
Model-View-Controller (MVC) is the classic architecture pattern for developing iOS apps. It divides the application logic into three distinct layers: the model layer, the view layer and the controller layer. The model layer is responsible for managing the data of the app, such as user information and preferences. The view layer is responsible for displaying the data to the user in a visually appealing way. Lastly, the controller layer is responsible for connecting the two layers and handling user interactions.
MVC is a simple and straightforward architecture, which makes it the ideal choice for small and medium-sized apps. However, it can become difficult to maintain and scale as an app grows larger and more complex.
Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) is an alternative architecture to MVC that was designed to address some of the drawbacks of MVC. It divides the application logic into four distinct layers: the model layer, the view layer, the view model layer and the controller layer. The view model layer is responsible for managing the state of the view and translating data from the model layer into an easily consumable format for the view layer. The controller layer is still responsible for handling user interactions, but it is now decoupled from the view layer, allowing for better testability and scalability.
VIPER (View-Interactor-Presenter-Entity) is a more recent architecture pattern that was developed as an alternative to MVC and MVVM. It divides the application logic into five distinct layers: the view layer, the interactor layer, the presenter layer, the entity layer and the router layer. The view layer is responsible for displaying the data to the user in a visually appealing way. The interactor layer is responsible for fetching data from the model layer and passing it to the presenter layer. The presenter layer is responsible for formatting the data into a format that is easily consumable by the view layer. The entity layer is responsible for managing the data of the app. Finally, the router layer is responsible for handling the navigation between screens.
VIPER is a more complex architecture than MVC or MVVM, but it is also more scalable and testable. It is ideal for larger and more complex apps where scalability and testability are important considerations.
To summarize, there are three architectures that can be used for Swift development: MVC, MVVM and VIPER. MVC is a simple and straightforward architecture that is ideal for small and medium-sized apps. MVVM is an alternative architecture that is designed to address some of the drawbacks of MVC. And VIPER is a more complex architecture that is ideal for larger and more complex apps. Each architecture has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to choose the one that best fits your project’s needs.
let mvc = ModelViewController()
let mvvm = ModelViewViewModel()
let viper = ViewInteractorPresenterEntity()No matter which architecture you choose, Swift is a powerful and popular language for iOS development. With the right architecture, you can create robust and scalable apps that are sure to delight your users.