FreeformJSON: Type-safe freeform JSON data structure with Codable support for Swift

FreeformJSON is a tiny data structure that allows you to create and/or access freeform JSON data in a type safe manner, while still enjoying the benefits of the Codable protocol. This can be useful if there are parts of your model that you want to have access to, but don’t want the overhead of having a class/struct for it.

Examples

Use inside other Codable data structures

import FreeformJSON

struct Post: Codable {
    let name: String
    let embeddedContent: JSON
}
...
let link = post.embeddedContent["origin"]["link"].string

Create from literal values

let post: JSON = [
    "name": "My Post",
    "rating": 4,
    "hidden": false,
    "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
]

Create from any Encodable type

struct Post: Encodable {
    let name: String
    let rating: Double
    let hidden: Bool
    let tags: [String]
}

let post = Post(name: "My Post", rating: 4.0, hidden: false, tags: ["tag1", "tag2"])
let postJson = try JSON.fromEncodable(post)
let name = post["name"].string // Optional("My Post")

Safe or raw access to properties

let name = post["name"].string                      // Optional("My Post")
let notAString = post["rating"].string              // nil
let nonExisting = post["nonExisting"].string        // nil
let tag = post["tags"][0]                           // Optional("tag1")
let rawTags = post["tags"].rawValue! as! [String]   // ["tag1", "tag2"]

Requirements

FreeformJSON is compatible with Swift 4.x and later. All Apple platforms are supported:

• iOS 9.0+
• macOS 10.9+
• watchOS 2.0+
• tvOS 9.0+

Installation

Single file

Just drop JSON.swift anywhere in your own project.

Framework

Download the repo, drag FreeformJSON.xcodeproj into your own project and link the appropriate target for your platform.

CocoaPods

Inside your Podfile:

source 'https://github.com/CocoaPods/Specs.git'
platform :ios, '9.0'

target 'TargetName' do
use_frameworks!
pod 'FreeformJSON'
end

Carthage

Inside your Cartfile:

github "fabiorodella/FreeformJSON"

Swift Package Manager

Inside your Package.swift:

// swift-tools-version:4.0

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "TargetName",
    dependencies: [
        .package(url: "https://github.com/fabiorodella/FreeformJSON.git", from: "1.0.0"),
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "TargetName",
            dependencies: ["FreeformJSON"]),
    ]
)