Exploring AI Assisted Coding

This book offers a practical guide to using Cursor and VS Code Copilot in your daily Swift and SwiftUI workflows.

Highlights

• Includes ready-to-use scripts for creating Xcode projects
• Xcursor: CustomGPT
• Chat about anything related to Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and iOS development

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Who Is This Book For?

This book is designed for:

• iOS and Apple platform developers looking for ways to improve their workflow with AI assistance and reduce friction.

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Table of Contents

Privacy and Security

Getting Started with Cursor

• Installing Cursor on macOS
• Getting Started with GitHub Copilot in VS Code
• Downloading and Installing Visual Studio Code
• Setting Up GitHub Copilot
• Install the GitHub Copilot Extension
• Managing Your GitHub Copilot Subscription
• Xcode Midnight Theme

Tips for Prompting

• Designing Prompts
• Using Action Verbs
• System Prompt

Version Control

• Keyboard Shortcuts for Version Control
• Using AI to Generate Commit Messages
• Moving Forward

Cursor Tab

• Cursor Tab & External Package
• How Cursor Tab Works
• The Future of Cursor Tab
• Predicting the Next Action
• Surface Information When You Need It
• Perfect Edits with Large-Scale Inference

Edit for Code Generation

• How it Works
• Example of Using Edit

Cursor Chat

• How It Works
• Using Chat to Learn a New Framework
  • Getting Started
  • Using Chat
  • Initial Code
  • Adding Test Audio
  • Improved Code Suggestions
  • First Build
  • Improving with Speech Recognition
  • Extending to macOS

Basic Example of Using Composer

• Getting Started
• Using Composer

Debug with AI

• Getting Started
• When to Rely on AI Suggestions

Cursor and Rules for AI

• Global AI Rules in Cursor Settings
• Project-Specific Cursor Rules
  • Setting Up
  • Rules for AI vs. cursorrules File
  • Understanding the System Prompt
  • What Happens During a Conflict?
  • Toggling .cursorrules Usage
• Tips on Cursor Rules
  • Define Your Project’s Specific Context
  • Use Chain-of-Thought Reasoning
  • Adapt the AI’s Tone and Style
• Cursor Rules Directory
  • Background and Context
  • Objectives of the Rule
  • Response Format
  • Why This Example is Effective

Introducing SweetPad

• Autocompletion
  • Autocomplete in Action
• Building and Running
  • Setting Up Build and Run
  • Keyboard Shortcuts for Build and Run
  • Adding Task Termination to Avoid Conflicts
  • Main Features of the “Build” Section
  • Configuring Your Xcode Workspace
  • Additional Build Settings
• Debugging
  • Setting Up Debugging
  • Breakpoints
• Running on Real Device
  • Limitations of SweetPad’s Device Management
  • Running Your App on a Physical Device
  • Adding a New Device
  • How SweetPad Uses devicectl
  • Viewing Logs and Debugging from the Device
• Formatting
  • Setting Up Code Formatting with swift-format
  • Customizing the Formatter
  • Handling Formatting Errors
  • Choosing the Right Formatter
  • Format on Save

Starting with Hot Reloading

• Installing Inject
• Setting Up Inject
• How Inject Works
• Importing Inject
• Starting with InjectionNext
  • Setting Up InjectionNext with SwiftUI
• Cursor Rules for Hot Reloading

Moving Forward

Introduction to Alex Sidebar for Xcode

• Overview
• Getting Started with Alex Sidebar