In Swift 5.7+ why is `if let name = name { }` preferred instead of `if let newName { }`?

I’m coming back to Swift after several years. I had a situation at work recently where I thought I was being pushed to reuse variable names. I followed an if let example from the latest edition of Apple’s Swift manual in which a new variable name is created. I was told that the community as a whole has opted to reuse variable names. I’m curious why this preferred and why declaring a new name is frowned upon. Understanding the logic behind this would help me understand why I should do it this way (after all, I’m coming from years of TypeScript where this is not OK).

Example from Swift manual:

if let name = optionalName { … }

Standard way:

if let name = name { … }

I think the most common reason is that these are common guidelines, such as mentioned in the official Ray Wenderlich Swift Style Guide.

I also believe this is preferred by Apple/Swift itself given proposal SE-0345 with shorthand for shadowing existing optional variables, which was introduced in Swift 5.7.

Edit:<br/>
Similar question: https://stackoverflow.com/a/32192915/406677

> I’m curious why this preferred and why declaring a new name is frowned upon.

It isn't. You can still do

if let newName = name { ... }

and it is probably the most appropriate thing to do in some places. For example,

let optiionalFoo: String? = ...

...

if let foo = optionalFoo { ... }

It's up to you.

Prior to SE 345, people were finding that they were writing

if let foo = foo { ... }

quite a lot. The new syntax was introduced as a shorthand for the above, nothing more, although it does appear to magically change an optional to a non optional, particularly when used with guard. It doesn't actually change the variable, it shadows the original with a new non optional "copy".

Use it or don't use it depending on your preference or your project's style guide.