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Nicolas Verinaud
Nicolas Verinaud

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My new swift workflow or how to boost your swift productivity !

Running tests manually each time I make a change in Xcode or AppCode drive me crazy (because of slowness & bugs in AppCode), so I decided to automate it.

The objective ? Having this kind of workflow (which I observed and enjoyed when I did some JavaScript) :

  1. edit some source code,
  2. watch the tests run automatically without me doing anything, giving me instant feedback on how well I am doing.

Here is how I enable this workflow for swift development (it can also be applied for other languages as long as you can run tests from the command line) :

  1. Install node
  2. Install nodemon
  3. Run this command in your workspace (or project) folder (using your favorite terminal or the one embedded in AppCode, which I use because of me working in full screen).
nodemon -e swift,strings --exec "xcodebuild -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme \"MyApp\" -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone XS,OS=12.1' test"

Just replace the workspace & scheme with yours, and you're done ! You can make a change to any swift or strings files and boom tests are run automatically !

Let me know how if it is helpful for you in the comment or on Twitter !


I originally wrote the full story (with drama) of me making this possible. I left it below for you to enjoy ! 😁

The Full Story Behind

It all started with a frustration.

I love the speed of Xcode for building & running tests.

But, woa, the refactoring capabilities, despite getting better, are wayyy behind what AppCode provides.

I love the refactoring capabilites of AppCode.

But, woa, building & running tests is so sloooow.

And it fails every once in a while, like, every hour with a "db lock blabla" error requiring me to clean, clean build folder, praying, crying, relunching the IDE, crossing fingers. Eventually productivity is back again.

Choose your pain !

A Great Ide(a)

So, yesterday I had an idea.

Wait wait, building your own IDE right ?

Exactly !

You know that this is a huge project, like a HUGE project !

Yeah, cool isn't it ?!

You do not have the time to do that.

What ? ...

Oh I guess you're right. Am I doomed ?

You're a developer, a developer is never doomed ! What about finding a viable solution in 1 hour ? Like a Startup Challenge !

Challenge accepted !

Wouldn't it be cool to use AppCode as the source code editor & Xcode to build & run the tests ?

That would be my MVP.

Switching back & forth between 2 IDEs manually ? You kiddin', right ?

Meh...painful isn't it ?

What about "build & run" from the command line using the integrated terminal of AppCode ?

Seems better !

So my solution is only a little man xcodebuild away !

*Digging into the manual*

TADA! Here is my command !

xcodebuild -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme "MyApp" -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone XS,OS=12.1' test

Seriously ?

Yep ! My workflow is now :

  1. Editing some source code
  2. Running the command above
  3. goto 1

Not bad, but I have another challenge !

I have some time left, tell me.

What about running this command automatically when you edit the source code ?

Hum...

I did this thing one day...nodeJS...
...with a watch running stuff when code changed...like hot reloading, running tests...

Cool story... But this is serious stuff, not this JavaScript hype thing.

I am serious !

Oh yes I am...

So it used an npm package called nodemon to watch for file changes.

*Searching for nodemon...digging into the documentation*

TADA! I can run this nodemon thing telling it to watch for swift & strings files & executing my custom command !

Prove it !

No problem, watch this !

nodemon -e swift,strings --exec "xcodebuild -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme \"MyApp\" -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone XS,OS=12.1' test"

Oh please, you mean your workflow now is...

  1. Editing source code
  2. No step 2.

Lessons I learned

  1. Frustration is a powerful call-to-action for me.
  2. Learning unrelated stuff, like nodeJS in this case, can open new horizons & improve creativity.
  3. Using the 1-hour timebox forced me to find a good enough solution which ended beyond my initial expectations !

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