store a large list of static strings (Swift)

Question

I am making an app for iOS 8 with Swift. I need to store long lists of strings. These will need to be read at any time during the app. What is the easiest way to accomplish this? XML files, plain text files, binary files?

Answer 1

The usual from Objective-C experiences applies. You can really use any of the methods you mention. Some comments:

• XML: seems overkill. You would need a parser, etc.
• Exception: Apple's property lists (which is also an XML format). You can read the entire list with a one-liner
• Plain text: involves a few lines of code to read it, so it could be viable. It would be particularly easy to make the list in the first place (e.g. with excel or a text editor).
• Binary: not recommended for strings.
• Core Data: keeps the strings in a neat SQLite database, but is likely to be overkill as well.

e.g. for plist:

let wordList = NSArray(contentsOfFile: path)