[Performance Hints] Add simple check for returning of values of array and dictionary type

This check will run on each type-checked primary input of the current compilation and emit a warning diagnostic for all discovered occurences of this code pattern when the performance hint diagnostic is enabled

Author: artemcm

include/swift/AST/DiagnosticGroups.def

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ GROUP(TrailingClosureMatching, "trailing-closure-matching")
 GROUP(UnknownWarningGroup, "unknown-warning-group")
 GROUP(CompilationCaching, "compilation-caching")
 GROUP(WeakMutability, "weak-mutability")
+GROUP(PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy, "perf-hint-return-type-implicit-copy")
 
 #define UNDEFINE_DIAGNOSTIC_GROUPS_MACROS
 #include "swift/AST/DefineDiagnosticGroupsMacros.h"

include/swift/AST/DiagnosticsSema.def

@@ -8935,5 +8935,16 @@ ERROR(attr_inline_always_requires_inlinable,none,
 ERROR(attr_inline_always_no_usable_from_inline,none,
       "cannot use '@inline(always)' together with '@usableFromInline'", ())
 
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+// MARK: Swift Performance hints
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+GROUPED_WARNING(perf_hint_function_returns_array,PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy,DefaultIgnore,
+                "Performance: %0 returns a%select{ dictionary|n array}1, leading to implicit copies. "
+                "Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead.", (const FuncDecl *, bool))
+GROUPED_WARNING(perf_hint_closure_returns_array,PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy,DefaultIgnore,
+                "Performance: closure returns a%select{ dictionary|n array}0, leading to implicit copies. "
+                "Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead.", (bool))
+
 #define UNDEFINE_DIAGNOSTIC_MACROS
 #include "DefineDiagnosticMacros.h"

include/swift/AST/TypeCheckRequests.h

@@ -4967,6 +4967,24 @@ class TypeCheckCDeclFunctionRequest
   bool isCached() const { return true; }
 };
 
+/// A request to emit performance hints
+class EmitPerformanceHints
+: public SimpleRequest<EmitPerformanceHints,
+                       evaluator::SideEffect(SourceFile *),
+                       RequestFlags::Cached> {
+public:
+using SimpleRequest::SimpleRequest;
+
+private:
+friend SimpleRequest;
+
+evaluator::SideEffect
+evaluate(Evaluator &evaluator, SourceFile *SF) const;
+
+public:
+bool isCached() const { return true; }
+};
+
 /// Check @c enums for compatibility with C.
 class TypeCheckCDeclEnumRequest
     : public SimpleRequest<TypeCheckCDeclEnumRequest,

include/swift/AST/TypeCheckerTypeIDZone.def

@@ -664,3 +664,7 @@ SWIFT_REQUEST(TypeChecker, AvailabilityDomainForDeclRequest,
 SWIFT_REQUEST(TypeChecker, IsCustomAvailabilityDomainPermanentlyEnabled,
               bool(const CustomAvailabilityDomain *),
               SeparatelyCached, NoLocationInfo)
+
+SWIFT_REQUEST(TypeChecker, EmitPerformanceHints,
+              evaluator::SideEffect(SourceFile *),
+              Cached, NoLocationInfo)

lib/Option/features.json

@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@
     },
     {
        "name": "internal-import-bridging-header"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "performance-hints"
     }
   ]
 }

lib/Sema/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ add_swift_host_library(swiftSema STATIC
   MiscDiagnostics.cpp
   OpenedExistentials.cpp
   PCMacro.cpp
+  PerformanceHints.cpp
   PlaygroundTransform.cpp
   PreCheckTarget.cpp
   ResilienceDiagnostics.cpp

lib/Sema/MiscDiagnostics.cpp

@@ -3227,7 +3227,7 @@ bool swift::computeFixitsForOverriddenDeclaration(
 }
 
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-// Per func/init diagnostics
+// MARK: Per func/init diagnostics
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 namespace {
@@ -6474,7 +6474,7 @@ static void diagnoseCxxFunctionCalls(const Expr *E, const DeclContext *DC) {
 }
 
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-// High-level entry points.
+// MARK: High-level entry points.
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 /// Emit diagnostics for syntactic restrictions on a given expression.
@@ -6525,7 +6525,7 @@ void swift::performStmtDiagnostics(const Stmt *S, DeclContext *DC) {
 }
 
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-// Utility functions
+// MARK: Utility functions
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
 void swift::fixItAccess(InFlightDiagnostic &diag, ValueDecl *VD,

lib/Sema/PerformanceHints.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+//===--------------------- PerformanceHints.cpp ---------------------------===//
+//
+// This source file is part of the Swift.org open source project
+
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2014 - 2025 Apple Inc. and the Swift project authors
+// Licensed under Apache License v2.0 with Runtime Library Exception
+//
+// See https://swift.org/LICENSE.txt for license information
+// See https://swift.org/CONTRIBUTORS.txt for the list of Swift project authors
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// This files implements the various checks/lints intended to provide
+// opt-in guidance for hidden costs in performance-critical Swift code.
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "swift/AST/ASTContext.h"
+#include "swift/AST/ASTWalker.h"
+#include "swift/AST/Decl.h"
+#include "swift/AST/DiagnosticsFrontend.h"
+#include "swift/AST/DiagnosticsSema.h"
+#include "swift/AST/Evaluator.h"
+#include "swift/AST/Expr.h"
+#include "swift/AST/TypeCheckRequests.h"
+
+using namespace swift;
+
+namespace {
+
+void checkImplicitCopyReturnType(const FuncDecl *FD, DiagnosticEngine &Diags) {
+  auto ReturnType = FD->getResultInterfaceType();
+  if (ReturnType->isArray() || ReturnType->isDictionary()) {
+    Diags.diagnose(FD->getLoc(), diag::perf_hint_function_returns_array, FD,
+                   ReturnType->isArray());
+  }
+}
+
+void checkImplicitCopyReturnType(const ClosureExpr *Closure,
+                                 DiagnosticEngine &Diags) {
+  auto ReturnType = Closure->getResultType();
+  if (ReturnType->isArray() || ReturnType->isDictionary()) {
+    Diags.diagnose(Closure->getLoc(), diag::perf_hint_closure_returns_array,
+                   ReturnType->isArray());
+  }
+}
+
+/// Produce performance hint diagnostics for a SourceFile.
+class PerformanceHintDiagnosticWalker final : public ASTWalker {
+  ASTContext &Ctx;
+
+public:
+  PerformanceHintDiagnosticWalker(ASTContext &Ctx) : Ctx(Ctx) {}
+
+  static void check(SourceFile *SF) {
+    auto Walker = PerformanceHintDiagnosticWalker(SF->getASTContext());
+    SF->walk(Walker);
+  }
+
+  PreWalkResult<Expr *> walkToExprPre(Expr *E) override {
+    if (auto Closure = dyn_cast<ClosureExpr>(E))
+      checkImplicitCopyReturnType(Closure, Ctx.Diags);
+
+    return Action::Continue(E);
+  }
+
+  PreWalkAction walkToDeclPre(Decl *D) override {
+    if (auto *FD = dyn_cast<FuncDecl>(D))
+      checkImplicitCopyReturnType(FD, Ctx.Diags);
+
+    return Action::Continue();
+  }
+};
+} // namespace
+
+evaluator::SideEffect EmitPerformanceHints::evaluate(Evaluator &evaluator,
+                                                     SourceFile *SF) const {
+  PerformanceHintDiagnosticWalker::check(SF);
+  return {};
+}

lib/Sema/TypeChecker.cpp

@@ -384,6 +384,10 @@ TypeCheckPrimaryFileRequest::evaluate(Evaluator &eval, SourceFile *SF) const {
       Ctx.evaluator,
       CheckInconsistentWeakLinkedImportsRequest{SF->getParentModule()}, {});
 
+  // Opt-in performance hint diagnostics for performance-critical code.
+  // TODO: Only enable when specific checks are enabled
+  evaluateOrDefault(Ctx.evaluator, EmitPerformanceHints{SF}, {});
+
   // Perform various AST transforms we've been asked to perform.
   if (!Ctx.hadError() && Ctx.LangOpts.DebuggerTestingTransform)
     performDebuggerTestingTransform(*SF);

test/PerformanceHints/array-ret.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// RUN: %empty-directory(%t)
+
+// Ensure diagnosed as error by-default
+// RUN: not %target-swift-frontend -typecheck %s -diagnostic-style llvm &> %t/output_err.txt
+// RUN: cat %t/output_err.txt | %FileCheck %s
+
+// Ensure ignored by-default
+// RUN: %target-swift-frontend -typecheck %s -diagnostic-style llvm -verify
+
+// Ensure enabled with '-Wwarning'
+// RUN: %target-swift-frontend -typecheck %s -diagnostic-style llvm -Wwarning PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy &> %t/output_warn.txt
+// RUN: cat %t/output_warn.txt | %FileCheck %s -check-prefix CHECK-WARN
+
+// Ensure escalated with '-Werror'
+// RUN: %target-swift-frontend -typecheck %s -diagnostic-style llvm -Werror PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy &> %t/output_err.txt
+// RUN: cat %t/output_err.txt | %FileCheck %s -check-prefix CHECK-ERR
+
+// CHECK-ERR: error: Performance: 'foo()' returns an array, leading to implicit copies. Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead. [#PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy]
+// CHECK-ERR: error: Performance: closure returns an array, leading to implicit copies. Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead. [#PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy]
+
+// CHECK-WARN: warning: Performance: 'foo()' returns an array, leading to implicit copies. Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead. [#PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy]
+// CHECK-WARN: warning: Performance: closure returns an array, leading to implicit copies. Consider using an 'inout' parameter instead. [#PerfHintReturnTypeImplicitCopy]
+
+func foo() -> [Int] {
+    return [1,2,3,4,5,6]
+}
+
+func bar() -> Int {
+    let myCoolArray = { () -> [Int] in
+        return [1, 2]
+    }
+    return myCoolArray().count
+}