RAM and SWAP

I am a traditional Linux Guy and always keep a SWAP partition of twice the RAM.

Linux is very clever in using memory a system lt has. 

I am currently, installing Big Linux and it states that it does not need a SWAP partition but uses a compressed SWAP im its RAM. All the Linux Distribution used nevet use RAM above 1GB during install. 

I have 8GB RAM all these Linux tricks are new to me.

If one has RAM over 16GB SWAP partition is redundant and almost never used.

Swapping is inherently slow and frequent use of SSD or Hard Disk leads to wear and tear. With RAM sticks going up in price, I do not think using RAM excessivly lead to RAM failure and no running system.