SwiftUI To-Do List Tutorial

Welcome to the SwiftUI To-Do List tutorial, a step-by-step series that guides you from an empty Xcode project to a fully-featured task manager. You’ll start with a simple list of Strings, then iterate toward a model-driven, MVVM-styled app that persists data with UserDefaults (and is ready for SwiftData later).

---

What you’ll build

• Add new tasks with a text field and “+” button
• Swipe-to-delete and drag-to-reorder
• Checkmark to mark a task complete (strike-through text)
• Tap a row to open TodoDetailView and edit the title or status
• All tasks persist between launches using UserDefaults

The finished source files (TodoItem.swift, TodoViewModel.swift, ContentView.swift, etc.) are included so you can peek at a working solution any time.

---

Who is this tutorial for?

• ACS 2420 students who have completed Lesson 2 (SwiftUI basics).
• Self-taught SwiftUI beginners who know @State and List but want to see bindings, NavigationStack, and MVVM in practice.
• Instructors looking for a concise, modern CRUD example that avoids Core Data boilerplate.

Prerequisites

Tool	Version
macOS	13 (Ventura) or newer
Xcode	15 or newer
Swift	5.9+

---

What you’ll learn

Topic	Covered in
UserDefaults persistence for custom types	Part 1
ObservableObject, @Published, @EnvironmentObject	Part 1
List editing (.onDelete, .onMove)	Part 1
Creating a simple MVVM view-model	Part 1
Refactoring to a TodoItem struct with id & isDone	Part 2
Two-way bindings in NavigationLink detail views	Part 2
Swipe-to-delete & drag-to-reorder on bound arrays	Part 2
Editing tasks in TodoDetailView with a binding	Part 3
Advanced UI polish, percent-encoding, haptic touch (stretch goals)	Part 3 / Bonus

---

Tutorial roadmap

Part	Milestone
1. Starter app	Text-field input, add/delete tasks, persist array of Strings
2. Struct model & checkmarks	TodoItem, check/uncheck, list reordering
3. Detail screen	NavigationStack, editable TodoDetailView, two-way binding
4. (Optional)	Migrate to SwiftData, add search & widgets

Each part ends with a working Xcode project and a checkpoint commit suggestion.

---

How to use this repo

1. Read the tutorial page (Part 1, 2, and 3).
2. Code along in your own project; run frequently in the simulator.
3. Compare your progress to the CompletedSource folder if you get stuck.
4. Celebrate with ⌘-R when your tasks survive an app relaunch!