SwiftUI Inspector Modifiers: Debug Complex View Hierarchies with Precision

Create a conditional debug inspector that only executes in debug builds, providing detailed logging of view states and updates without impacting production performance.

extension View {
    func debugInspect<T>(_ value: T, label: String = "") -> some View {
        #if DEBUG
        return self.inspect { _ in
            let timestamp = Date().formatted(.dateTime.hour().minute().second())
            print("[\(timestamp)] \(label): \(value)")
        }
        #else
        return self
        #endif
    }
}

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var counter = 0
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text("Count: \(counter)")
                .debugInspect(counter, label: "Counter Value")
            
            Button("Increment") {
                counter += 1
            }
        }
        .debugInspect("View Updated", label: "Body Execution")
    }
}

Why This is a Best Practice

This approach allows you to maintain debugging visibility during development while ensuring zero performance impact in release builds. The inspect modifier runs synchronously with view updates, giving you precise timing information about when and why views are being recreated or updated.

Create a conditional debug inspector that only executes in debug builds, providing detailed logging of view states and updates without impacting production performance.

extension View {
    func debugInspect<T>(_ value: T, label: String = "") -> some View {
        #if DEBUG
        return self.inspect { _ in
            let timestamp = Date().formatted(.dateTime.hour().minute().second())
            print("[\(timestamp)] \(label): \(value)")
        }
        #else
        return self
        #endif
    }
}

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var counter = 0
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text("Count: \(counter)")
                .debugInspect(counter, label: "Counter Value")
            
            Button("Increment") {
                counter += 1
            }
        }
        .debugInspect("View Updated", label: "Body Execution")
    }
}

Why This is a Best Practice

History

SwiftUI Inspector Modifiers: Debug Complex View Hierarchies with Precision

Why This is a Best Practice