A separate UIViewController for UITextField - iOS

Question

In my iOS project I have a set of custom textfields, e.g. for password entry.

As an example, such textfields can contain additional views and logic - for example, show or hide a password with a press of a button.

Since this logic is not used anywhere outside the textField, I have an idea to create a PasswordTextFieldController and set the textField as its only view.

The show/hide password behavior goes to the PasswordTextFieldController and the controller itself is used as a child view controller with the help of View Controller Containment.

As all the relevant logic has been encapsulated, I could reuse the same PasswordTextFieldController during both signup and login.

Are there any drawbacks in this approach?

Answer 1

It's kind of heavy for just one text field in my opinion but it is an option. I think the most common way to do something like this is to make a subclass of UITextField that tracks the extra functionality itself. Even that might be too heavy and it makes composing functionality difficult. I recommend instead that you make your own "PasswordController" class that doesn't derive from UIViewController and has a reference to the text field.

That said, here is an article from someone I respect as a developer who at least entertains the idea: Many Controllers Make Light Work.