Swift Memory Management

Priority: P0

Implementation Guidelines

ARC Fundamentals

• Default: Strong references. Swift automatically manages retain/release.
• Weak: Use weak for delegate patterns and parent-child relationships.
• Unowned: Use unowned only when reference guaranteed to outlive (rare).

Capture Lists

• Closures: Always use [weak self] or [unowned self] in escaping closures.
• Self in Structs: No capture list needed (self is copied by value).
• Multiple Captures: [weak self, weak delegate].

Retain Cycles

• Delegates: Always weak var delegate.
• Closures as Properties: Use weak or unowned in capture list.
• two-way References: One side must be weak.

Anti-Patterns

• Strong Delegates: **No strong var delegate**: Use weak.
• Missing Capture List: **No self in escaping closures**: Use [weak self].
• Unowned Misuse: **Avoid unowned**: Use weak unless certain.

References

• Capture Lists & Retain Cycles