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Karan Pal
Karan Pal

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at Medium

Building Redux from Scratch in SwiftUI: Production-Ready Implementation

Building Redux from Scratch in SwiftUI: Production-Ready Implementation

Originally published on Medium


๐Ÿค” The Problem with SwiftUI State Management

You start with @State for simple views. Then you discover @StateObject for more complex scenarios. Everything's great until...

  • Your user data needs to be shared across 5 unrelated screens
  • The shopping cart needs to persist when users switch tabs
  • Search filters affect multiple view hierarchies
  • You need analytics tracking every user action

Suddenly, you're passing data down through 6 levels of view hierarchy, creating "god objects" that know too much, and debugging state changes becomes a nightmare.

๐ŸŽฏ Why Redux? (And Why Most Tutorials Miss the Point)

Most Redux tutorials show you how to build a counter. Increment, decrement, done. But that's not why you'd actually use Redux.

Redux shines when:

  • Multiple screens need the same data
  • State changes need to be predictable and debuggable
  • You have complex business logic that needs testing
  • Async operations need coordination with UI state

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ What I Built: A Real Shopping Cart App

Instead of toy examples, I built a complete shopping cart application demonstrating production patterns:

Core Features

  • User Authentication with realistic error scenarios
  • Product Catalog with search and filtering
  • Shopping Cart with persistence across app launches
  • Real-time Updates across all tabs and views
  • Comprehensive Error Handling for network failures

Production Patterns

  • Type-Safe Actions preventing runtime errors
  • Middleware System for async operations, logging, analytics, and persistence
  • Performance Optimization with selective state observation
  • Mock Data System for immediate development and testing

๐Ÿ—๏ธ The Architecture That Actually Works

// Actions that tell the story
UserActions.login(email: "user@example.com", password: "password")
CartActions.addItem(productId: "iphone-15", quantity: 1)
ProductActions.searchProducts(query: "iPhone")

// State that reflects reality
struct AppState {
    var user: UserState      // Login status, user info, errors
    var cart: CartState      // Items, quantities, checkout status
    var products: ProductState // Catalog, search results, filters
    var ui: UIState         // Navigation, toasts, loading
}

// Middleware that handles the messy stuff
Action โ†’ Logging โ†’ Async โ†’ Analytics โ†’ Persistence โ†’ Reducer โ†’ New State
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๐ŸŽฎ See It in Action

The complete implementation includes patterns you won't find in basic tutorials:

Real User Flows

  • Login with locked@example.com to see error handling
  • Add products and switch tabs to see real-time updates
  • Close the app and reopen to see persistence working
  • Test network failures and offline scenarios

SwiftUI Integration Done Right

  • No unnecessary re-renders thanks to ViewStore pattern
  • Proper error boundaries with user-friendly messages
  • Loading states that actually feel responsive
  • Navigation that plays nicely with Redux state

๐Ÿ’ป Complete Implementation Available

Everything discussed is implemented in a working app you can run immediately:

๐Ÿ”— GitHub Repository

What you'll find:

  • โœ… 15+ SwiftUI views with full Redux integration
  • โœ… Complete middleware system
  • โœ… Mock data with realistic scenarios
  • โœ… Error handling throughout
  • โœ… Testing examples
  • โœ… Production patterns you can adapt

๐ŸŽฏ Key Takeaways

Redux isn't about following web patterns in iOS. It's about solving real problems:

  1. Predictable State Flow - Every change goes through the same path
  2. Separation of Concerns - Business logic in reducers, side effects in middleware
  3. Testing Made Simple - Pure functions are easy to test
  4. Performance Control - Update only what actually changed

When to use Redux:

  • Large teams needing predictable patterns
  • Complex apps with lots of shared state
  • Apps requiring comprehensive testing
  • When debugging state changes is critical

When NOT to use Redux:

  • Simple apps with local state
  • Prototypes and MVPs
  • When Apple's tools work fine

๐Ÿš€ Ready to Build Better State Management?

Read the full implementation guide and get the complete source code:

๐Ÿ“– Full Article on Medium

๐Ÿ’ป Complete Code on GitHub


What's your experience with state management in SwiftUI? Have you hit the point where @State and @ObservableObject aren't enough? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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