Types

• Structures - struct
• Enumerations - enum
• Classes - class

All can conform to protocols and can be extended

Optionals

Declaring an Optional

var possibleInt: Int?

Forced Unwrapping

possibleInt! - gives an Int; blows up if there is no value

Checking for a value

if possibleInt != nil {
    print("The int is \(possibleInt!)")
}

Optional Binding

if let theInt = possibleInt {
    print("The int is \(theInt)")
}

Nil Coalescing Operator

Provides a default value when the optional is nil.

let name = possibleName ?? "hi"

Implicitly Unwrapped Optionals

For when an optional starts out without a value, but it's clear from a program's structure that an optional will always have a value after that value is first set. Useful especially in class initialization.

var assumedInt: Int!
assumedInt = 42
print(assumedInt)

Optional Chaining

var possibleString: String!
print(possibleString?.lowercased)

Different from forced unwrapping in that optional chaining fails gracefully and returns a nil, whereas forced unwrapping triggers a runtime error.

print(optionalDate.map(dateFormatter.stringFromDate))

If optionalDate is defined, calls dateFormatter.stringFromDate(optionalDate) and returns the result; otherwise returns nil.

Downcasting

Conditional type cast

control as? UIButtonView

Returns a UIButtonView? that has no value if the type cast couldn't occur.

Forced type cast

control as! UIButtonView

Force unwraps and triggers a runtime error if the type cast couldn't occur.

Computed Properties

var someProperty: Type {
    return /* some computed value*/
}

Property Observers

var someProperty: Type {
    willSet {
        // ...
    }
    didSet {
        // ...
    }
}