How to set static variable that requires async initialization

Using Swift
,
1

How to set static variable that requires async initialization ?

hypothetical case:

@globalActor public actor ImageDatabase{
    
    public static var shared: ImageDatabase = ImageDatabase() 
    // 'async' call cannot occur in a global variable initializer
    
    private var transport : ImageTransportLayer
    
    private init() async {
           self.transport = await ImageTransportLayer()
    }    
}

@ImageDatabase class ImageTransportLayer { } // CRUD
2

I doubt there is a way to create a global actor instance asynchronously. However, you can initialize your ImageTransportLayer later manually in the app launch sequence.

@globalActor public actor ImageDatabase {
    private init() {}
    public static var shared: ImageDatabase = ImageDatabase()

    private var transport: ImageTransportLayer?
    public func initTransport() async {
        transport = await ImageTransportLayer()
    }
}

@ImageDatabase class ImageTransportLayer {} // CRUD

Task {
    await ImageDatabase.shared.initTransport()

    // Continue using ImageDatabase.shared
}
3

That what I really would like to escape "to do it later" :slightly_smiling_face: There's a chance that somebody might to forget to do it. I would like to escape to add extra State and check whether it's been initialized.

Thank you