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Swift has undergone significant syntax changes across different versions, improving performance, readability, and safety. Below is an overview of major syntax changes in different Swift versions:

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Swift 1.x (2014) – Initial Release

• Introduced optionals, type inference, and closures.
• Variables: var (mutable) and let (immutable).
• Optional Binding: if let value = optionalValue { print(value) }
• Tuples and Multiple Return Values: func getCoordinates() -> (x: Int, y: Int) { return (10, 20) }

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Swift 2.x (2015) – Error Handling & Guard

Major Syntax Changes:

• Error Handling: do-try-catch introduced. do { try someThrowingFunction() } catch { print("Error: \(error)") }
• Guard Statement for Early Exit: func processValue(_ value: Int?) { guard let unwrappedValue = value else { print("Invalid value") return } print(unwrappedValue) }

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Swift 3.x (2016) – API Renaming & Syntax Refinements

Major Syntax Changes:

• Method Naming Convention Change: First argument labels required in functions. func greet(person name: String) { } // Swift 3+
• Renaming of API Methods (Foundation Framework)
  • print() instead of print (function name standardization).
  • NS prefix removed from many classes (NSString → String).
• Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) Simplification: DispatchQueue.global().async { print("Background task") }
• C-Style Loops Removed: for i in 0..<5 { print(i) }

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Swift 4.x (2017) – Codable, Strings, and Collection Enhancements

Major Syntax Changes:

• Codable Protocol for JSON Encoding/Decoding: struct User: Codable { var name: String var age: Int }
• One-Sided Ranges: let array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] print(array[2...]) // [3, 4, 5]
• Multi-Line String Literals: let text = """ This is a multi-line string. """

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Swift 5.x (2019 – Present) – ABI Stability & Concurrency

Major Syntax Changes:

• String Now Supports Character as a Collection: let name = "Swift" print(name.count) // 5
• Result Type for Error Handling: func fetchData() -> Result<String, Error> { return .success("Data Loaded") }
• Property Wrappers: @propertyWrapper struct Uppercase { private var value: String = "" var wrappedValue: String { get { value.uppercased() } set { value = newValue } } }
• Swift Concurrency (async/await & Actors) func fetchData() async -> String { return "Data loaded" } Task { let data = await fetchData() print(data) }

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Swift 6 (Upcoming) – Expected Features

• Ownership Model for Memory Optimization
• Enhanced Macros for Meta-programming
• More Optimized Concurrency Features

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Summary of Key Changes Across Swift Versions:

Swift Version	Major Changes
Swift 1	Optionals, Type Inference, Closures
Swift 2	do-try-catch, guard, API refinements
Swift 3	API renaming, GCD simplification, Loop syntax removal
Swift 4	Codable, Multi-line strings, Improved Collections
Swift 5	Result type, async/await, Property Wrappers
Swift 6	(Upcoming) Ownership model, Meta-programming

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