I just saw this proposal on swift evolution and it got me thinking. I’m really glad Apple is making an effort to have a proper cross platform standard library for Swift that includes Foundation. Without Foundation, Swift is borderline useless today. It has already resulted in several cross platform libraries inventing their own version of Foundation. If this keeps happening, we are sure to end up where JavaScript is today.
However, I’m still not convinced that porting the existing Foundation (from Objective-C) is the right way to go. As the above proposal points out, many Foundation classes just aren’t “Swifty”. Rather than going through what sounds like an insane process in an effort to preserve Objective-C interoperability (which I fully understand is very important), I think the more prudent option may be to leave the baggage behind and start afresh with a more Swifty foundation.
What goes in Swift Foundation will be used for the next 20 years. Does it really make sense to burden it with the baggage of the last 20?
Could this be Swift’s strategy tax?