5 Useful Core Data Resources Using Swift

So here is my list of the 5 most beneficial Core Data resources that I've come across. They can be broadly separated into two kinds of sources. Those that are better for basic Core Data setup or those that are useful for learning specific intermediate/advanced functions. Much of the information out there is outdated by several years, and there has been a lot of updates in Core Data, XCode, and Swift since then. There is also a lot of information written in Objective-C, but it's not easy to find modern Swift resources. In later posts, I will be sharing with all of you some of the specific things, implementation wise, that have worked for me while using Core Data in my apps, coded using Swift 4.


Basic Functions

Apple Core Data Programming Guide

This page gave detailed explanations on what Core Data is and the idea behind it in relation to well known databases. This helped me change my thinking , because Core Data is not a database like SQL. Apparently Apple is no longer updating it, but it is still available. Unless there are large changes to the Core Data architecture in the future, this page is a great starting point to understanding Core Data.

Stanford iOS - Core Data Lecture

This video is by far the most comprehensive resource on Core Data basics. It gave direct instructions on how to create, add, delete, update, and query Core Data objects. Basics on creating and manipulating the relationships between various entities. There are many other ways to do this. This was a clear implementation with an accompanied live demonstration. This video also posts all of the slides, and the XCode project online. The links are all in the description under the video.

Bob The Developer

This page gave simple explanations on how to connect Core Data to the UITableViewController, which is a very common View Controller used to display various Core Data entity attributes. The information can easily be adapted to be used with other commonly used View Controller types. This implementation was relatively short and simple.


Intermediate/Advanced Functions

Appcodia Blog

This page gave detailed instructions on how to fill Core Data entities by importing information from an existing database. This was the most direct Swift implementation found. There were many other resources that would be much harder to implement using Swift 4. Each section in the instructions were accompanied by explanations of the steps taken, making it easier for the user to pinpoint and fix errors or inconsistencies when working with their own data.

Apple Core Data Documentation

If you are interested in learning the member functions or variables associated with specific Core Data objects, such as the persistent container, managed object context, persistent store coordinator, and the managed object model. the official Apple Documentation would be the best place to look. It is also a good source to view inheritance relationships between specific Core Data objects that would give an experienced user the insight on the best way to utilize those objects. The given explanations are very brief, so it is only good for advanced Core Data users that are familiar with this framework.



*Note: I am not affiliated in any way to any of the webpages or companies mentioned in this post. These are all my own opinions.