Partition schemes are as varied as people. It depends on what you want to do. An install that's just being used to create a live snapshot can be on a single partition. I usually make them around 10-20 GB. For an installation that I'm going to use for regular computing stuff, I'll use a 10-20 GB partition for the operating system and a big partition for /home. (i.e. whatever space is remaining on the disk.)
You don't need a swap partition unless you plan to use hibernation. The installer will create a small swapfile. Most modern computers have more than enough memory, so swap space doesn't get used much.
The installer gives you a choice of ext2/3/4. If you want something else, format the partition before running the installer, and select "Do not format" in the installer options. I recommend that you use ext4.
Edit: To make live snapshots, you should have free space equal to twice the space used by the installation.
(4 GB installation gets a 12 GB partition. Enough room for a copy of the system and any isos you create.)