#ifdef replacement in the Swift language

Question

In C/C++/Objective C you can define a macro using compiler preprocessors. Moreover, you can include/exclude some parts of code using compiler preprocessors.

Answer 1

isDebug Constant Based on Active Compilation Conditions

Another, perhaps simpler, solution that still results in a boolean that you can pass into functions without peppering #if conditionals throughout your codebase is to define DEBUG as one of your project build target's Active Compilation Conditions and include the following (I define it as a global constant):

#if DEBUG
    let isDebug = true
#else
    let isDebug = false
#endif

---

isDebug Constant Based on Compiler Optimization Settings

This concept builds on kennytm's answer

The main advantage when comparing against kennytm's, is that this does not rely on private or undocumented methods.

In Swift 4:

let isDebug: Bool = {
    var isDebug = false
    // function with a side effect and Bool return value that we can pass into assert()
    func set(debug: Bool) -> Bool {
        isDebug = debug
        return isDebug
    }
    // assert:
    // "Condition is only evaluated in playgrounds and -Onone builds."
    // so isDebug is never changed to true in Release builds
    assert(set(debug: true))
    return isDebug
}()

Compared with preprocessor macros and kennytm's answer,

• ✓ You don't need to define a custom -D DEBUG flag to use it
• ~ It is actually defined in terms of optimization settings, not Xcode build configuration

• ✓ Documented, which means the function will follow normal API release/deprecation patterns.

• ✓ Using in if/else will not generate a "Will never be executed" warning.