Mihaela Mihaljevic
fe11bd0e56
The validation framework + recovering reader (#92) and editor integration (#94) are complete; they fold into the shipped legend. The beyond-parity libxml2 gaps (#71) are the remaining open epic.
206 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
206 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
# PureXML
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[](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureXML/actions/workflows/style.yml)
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[](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureXML/actions/workflows/swift-macos.yml)
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[](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureXML/actions/workflows/swift-linux.yml)
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[](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureXML/actions/workflows/swift-windows.yml)
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[](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureXML/actions/workflows/swift-wasm.yml)
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[](LICENSE)
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PureXML is a dependency-free XML package written entirely in Swift.
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The goal is a Linux-, Windows-, and WebAssembly-compatible XML reader/writer that
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does not pull in `libxml2`, `expat`, or Foundation's `XMLParser`. The package is
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intentionally strict about portability:
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- no external SwiftPM dependencies
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- no bundled C sources
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- no Foundation requirement in the library target
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- root Swift package layout
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- macOS, Linux, Windows, and WASI build gates
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It is a sibling project to [PureYAML](https://github.com/mihaelamj/PureYAML) and
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follows the same structure, rules, and verification gates.
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## Roadmap
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The roadmap uses the TileDown Mermaid palette: green for shipped work, yellow for
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review, purple for epic grouping, and gray for open work.
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```mermaid
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flowchart TB
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classDef done fill:#ddf9e4,stroke:#34c759,color:#111827
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classDef review fill:#fff7d6,stroke:#ffcc00,color:#111827
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classDef epic fill:#f2e5ff,stroke:#af52de,color:#111827
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classDef todo fill:#f2f4f7,stroke:#8e8e93,color:#111827
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LDone["In main now"]:::done
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LReview["PR in review"]:::review
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LEpic["Epic grouping"]:::epic
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LTodo["Open issue, no PR"]:::todo
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Core["Core shipped: #1 push, #19 SAX, #28 encoding, #29 entities, #31 tree, #32 writer, #33 reader, #34 save, #35 chars"]:::done
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Query["Query + validation shipped: #21 #22 #23 query, #30 regex, #2 XSD/RELAX NG, #25 Schematron"]:::done
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Transform["Transform + HTML shipped: #3 XSLT, #20 HTML, #24 XInclude, #26 C14N, #27 Catalog"]:::done
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Parity["Parity completion shipped: #61 (XSLT keys/output, XSD union/import/identity, RELAX NG compact, HTML5 doc structure, C14N 2.0 trim)"]:::done
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Validator["Validation framework + recovering reader shipped: #92 (one located severity-aware ValidationError, never-crash read)"]:::done
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Editor["Editor integration shipped: #94 (source spans, unified lint, schema completions, structured quick-fixes)"]:::done
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LDone --> LReview
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LReview --> LEpic
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LEpic --> LTodo
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```
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The goal is full libxml2 feature parity in pure Swift with zero dependencies, by
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clean-room reimplementation (behavior reproduced from the private PureXML-research
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analysis, no upstream source copied). The streaming core plus DTD validation
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(content models, attributes, ID/IDREF) and an XPath 1.0 subset is shipped; the
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remaining libxml2 surface is tracked as epics. Deliberate non-goals: network
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fetching (`nanohttp`/`nanoftp`) and the threading/memory infrastructure stay out,
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and external resolution is opt-in through an injected resolver so XXE stays closed.
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The original epics, the documented-subset parity work (#61), the validation
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framework and recovering reader (#92), and the editor-integration layer (#94)
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are all shipped (summarized above). The remaining work is the depth gaps versus
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libxml2 a read-only conformance audit surfaced (#71):
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```mermaid
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flowchart TB
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classDef done fill:#ddf9e4,stroke:#34c759,color:#111827
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classDef review fill:#fff7d6,stroke:#ffcc00,color:#111827
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classDef epic fill:#f2e5ff,stroke:#af52de,color:#111827
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classDef todo fill:#f2f4f7,stroke:#8e8e93,color:#111827
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Gaps["#71 Beyond-parity libxml2 gaps: DTD entities/defaulting (#72 #73), parser breadth (#74), XSD instance/derivation/wildcards/namespaces (#75 #76 #77 #78), RELAX NG + Schematron (#79 #80), XSLT elements/functions (#81 #82), HTML5 full tree (#83 #84), C14N/catalog/XInclude (#85 #86 #87), XPath/XPointer (#88), regex (#89), DOM/serialization (#90 #91)"]:::epic
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```
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## Status
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PureXML is a working, dependency-free XML library today: parse, emit, validate,
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query, and stream documents on macOS, Linux, Windows, and WASM. The test suite
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currently runs **135 tests in 18 suites** (`swift test`).
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### Shipped (libxml2-aligned surface)
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- **Model** (`PureXML.Model`): `Node`, `Element`, `Attribute`, `QualifiedName`,
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and a mutable `TreeNode` for in-place editing (insert, remove, replace, copy,
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parent navigation).
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- **Parsing** (`PureXML.Parsing`): iterative streaming parser over strings,
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bytes, or incremental character/byte sources. Pull events via `EventReader`,
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SAX2-style callbacks via `SAXHandler`, and a pull cursor via `TextReader`
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(libxml2 `xmlTextReader`). Handles elements, attributes, text, predefined and
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numeric entities, comments, CDATA, and processing instructions. Namespace
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bindings (`xmlns`) are resolved to URIs on parse.
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- **Encoding**: UTF-8/16/32 (with BOM sniffing), ISO-8859-1, and Windows-1252
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from raw bytes or streaming byte input.
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- **DTD (opt-in)**: `<!DOCTYPE>` is **off by default** (`Limits.allowDoctype:
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false`) to keep XXE and entity-expansion closed. When enabled, the internal
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subset is parsed; internal general entities expand with a bounded cap; external
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entities and external subsets are refused unless an injected
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`EntityResolver` supplies replacement text.
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- **Validation** (`PureXML.Validation`): structural checks (duplicate attributes,
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etc.) plus **DTD validation** against declared content models, attribute lists,
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and ID/IDREF rules (`DTDSchema`, `validateAgainstInternalDTD`). XSD, RELAX NG,
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and Schematron remain open epics (#2, #25).
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- **Emitting** (`PureXML.Emitting`): `Serializer` (save-option parity) and an
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incremental `Writer` (libxml2 `xmlTextWriter`) with compact and pretty modes.
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- **XPath** (`PureXML.XPath`): a **subset** of XPath 1.0 (location paths, common
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axes, node tests, basic predicates). Full XPath 1.0 is epic #21.
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### Safe defaults
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By default the parser rejects `<!DOCTYPE>` and refuses every external reference
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(`EntityResolver.refusing`). Enable DTD processing only when you need internal
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subset validation or internal entities, and wire a resolver only for trusted,
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in-memory replacements. Network fetching (`nanohttp`/`nanoftp`) and libxml2's
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threading/memory infrastructure are deliberate non-goals.
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### Remaining toward full libxml2 feature parity
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**12 of 20 epics are still open**; each now has filed child issues (#4–#60). The
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shipped eight cover the core I/O stack; most remaining work is whole standards:
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| Open epic | Child issues | What it adds |
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|---|---|---|
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| #1 Push / feed API | #4–#7 | Resumable scanner + push parser |
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| #20 HTML parser | #36–#39 | Tag-soup HTML parse and serialize |
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| #21 Full XPath 1.0 | #40–#43 | Unlocks #22, #23, #25, #3 |
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| #22 xmlPattern | #44–#45 | Streaming pattern match (needs #21) |
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| #23 XPointer | #46–#47 | element() / xpointer() (needs #21) |
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| #24 XInclude | #48–#51 | URI, xml:base, xi:include |
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| #25 Schematron | #52–#53 | Rule validation (needs #21) |
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| #26 C14N | #54–#56 | Canonical XML variants |
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| #27 XML Catalog | #57–#58 | OASIS catalog resolver |
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| #30 → #2 | #59–#60, #8–#13 | Regex engine, then XSD / RELAX NG |
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| #3 XSLT 1.0 | #14–#18 | Stylesheet transform (needs #21) |
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**40 open enhancement issues** under those epics (plus the 12 epic parents). Critical
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path: **#30 → #2** (schema) and **#21 → #22/#23/#25/#3** (query/transform).
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## Usage
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```swift
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import PureXML
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// Build a tree and emit it (works today).
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let element = PureXML.Model.Element(
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"book",
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attributes: [.init("id", "bk101")],
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children: [.element(.init("title", children: [.text("XML Developer's Guide")]))],
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)
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let xml = PureXML.serialize(.element(element))
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try PureXML.validate(.element(element))
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// Parse it back into a tree.
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let node = try PureXML.parse(xml)
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// Or stream events without building a tree (drives chunked input too).
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var reader = PureXML.events(xml)
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while let event = try reader.next() {
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// handle .startElement / .characters / .endElement / ...
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}
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// DTD validation (opt-in: allowDoctype + optional resolver for trusted externals).
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let issues = try PureXML.validateAgainstInternalDTD(
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xmlWithDoctype,
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limits: .init(allowDoctype: true),
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)
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// XPath subset over a parsed tree.
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let titles = try PureXML.xpath("//title", over: node)
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.compactMap(\.element)
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```
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## Attribution
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PureXML is informed by the behavior of established XML parsers (`libxml2`,
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`expat`, Foundation's `XMLParser`) and by the W3C XML 1.0 specification, but it
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does not copy their implementation into `Sources/`. See
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[ATTRIBUTION.md](ATTRIBUTION.md).
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## Development Contract
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PureXML must stay dependency-free and portable. Before merging changes:
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- Swift tools version: 6.1
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- Package products: `PureXML`
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- SwiftPM dependencies: none
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- Hosted CI matrix: macOS, Linux, Windows, and WASM
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```sh
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bash scripts/check-all.sh
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```
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That command expands to:
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```sh
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bash scripts/check-style.sh
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bash scripts/check-namespacing.sh
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bash scripts/check-forbidden-patterns.sh
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swiftformat . --config .swiftformat --lint
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swiftlint --config .swiftlint.yml --strict
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swift build
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swift test
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```
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## License
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MIT.
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