cdoky/urlnavigator

URLNavigator is a tool for iOS developers that makes it easy to navigate between screens in an app using URLs, similar to how web browsers use links. Instead of writing code that directly moves from one screen to another, you define URL patterns once and then navigate by simply passing a URL, making your app feel more like a website and making it easier to share deep links or handle incoming URLs from external sources. The core idea is straightforward: you register URL patterns (like "myapp://user/123") that map to screens or actions in your app. The library then handles the work of extracting information from those URLs (in this case, the user ID "123"), creating the right screen, and displaying it. URL patterns can include placeholders marked with angle brackets, for example, "<int:id>" means the app is looking for a number in that spot. You can also add query parameters, just like in a web URL, to pass extra data along. Once everything is registered, you can push a new screen, present it as a modal, or execute a handler just by calling a simple navigation method with the URL. Developers use this approach when building apps that need to respond to URLs from emails, push notifications, or web links that should open the app at a specific location. For instance, if your app has user profiles, instead of writing custom code each time you need to open a user's profile, you'd register the pattern "myapp://user/<int:id>" once and then navigate to it anywhere in your code with a single call. It's especially useful for teams building complex apps with many screens, since it creates a single source of truth for how URLs map to features. The library is designed for Swift and iOS development, and the README emphasizes best practices like keeping all your URL mappings in a separate file and handling URL schemes in your app's launch settings. It also supports custom validators for URL parts if you need to restrict what values are allowed in certain placeholders, for example, ensuring that a region parameter only matches specific AWS regions.