When using an app, there is nothing worse than it being slow and unresponsive. Computer users have come to expect every piece of software to respond immediately to every interaction. Even the most feature-rich app will be ruined if it is unpleasant to use because it doesn't manage the device resources effectively. Also, with the growing popularity of mobile computers and devices, it is more important than ever to write software that uses battery power efficiently. One of the aspects of writing software that has the largest impact on both responsiveness and battery power is memory management.
In this chapter, we will discuss techniques specific to Swift that allow us to manage memory in order to ensure that our code remains responsive and minimizes its effect on battery life and other apps. We will do so by covering the following topics:
Computer data storage
Value types versus reference types
Automatic reference counting
Strong reference...