Swift function can be called only once - swift

Question

What is the simplest way to write a piece of code that can be executed only once?
I know a way but has a problem.
first, I write a Boolean variable that has negative value but can be set to positive and cannot change after that
var hasTheFunctionCalled : Bool = false {
didSet{
hasTheFunctionCalled = true
}
}
and then write the function and the code inside it:
func theFunction(){
if !hasTheFunctionCalled{
//do the thing
}
hasTheFunctionCalled = true
}
but the problem is that the variable can be changed from somewhere else in the scope and this solution doesn't really look so simple and concrete.

Answer 1

A simple solution is to take advantage of lazy variables in the following way:
// Declare your "once-only" closure like this
private lazy var myFunction: Void = {
// Do something once
}()
...
// Then to execute it, just call
_ = myFunction
This ensures that the code inside the myFunction closure is only executed the first time that the program runs _ = myFunction
Edit: Another approach is to use so called "dispatch once tokens". This comes from Objective-C and was available in Swift until Swift 3. It is still possible to make it work, however you will need to add a little bit of custom code. You can find more information on this post -> dispatch_once after the Swift 3 GCD API changes
Edit2: Should be _ = myFunction and not _ = myFunction(), as JohnMontgomery pointed out.

Answer 2

You might use a static bool inside a struct nested into the function itself doing so:
func theFunction(){
struct Holder { static var called = false }
if !Holder.called {
Holder.called = true
//do the thing
}
}

Answer 3

One possible technique is to put the code into the initializer of a static type property, which is guaranteed to be lazily initialized only once (even when accessed across multiple threads simultaneously):
func theFunction() {
struct Once {
static let once = Once()
init() {
print("This should be executed only once during the lifetime of the program")
}
}
_ = Once.once
}
(Compare Singleton in the "Using Swift with Cocoa and Objective-C" reference.)
Example:
print("Call #1")
theFunction()
print("Call #2")
theFunction()
print("Done")
Output:
Call #1
This should be executed only once during the lifetime of the program
Call #2
Done

Answer 4

You can do smth like:
class Once {
var already: Bool = false
func run(#noescape block: () -> Void) {
guard !already else { return }
block()
already = true
}
}
and than use it like
class ViewController: UIViewController {
let once = Once()
override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidAppear(animated)
once.run {
cameraMan.setup()
}
}
}
ref: https://dev.to/onmyway133/how-to-run-action-once-in-swift-3k7o

Answer 5

Depending on what you are doing inside your method : you may check if the end result has already been accomplished :
e.g. if you instantiate a class, check if it is different from nil

Answer 6

You can also use UserDefaults, and the knowledge that the default UserDefault Bool is false:
if !UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "ExecuteOnce") {
func()
UserDefaults.standard.set(true, forKey: "ExecuteOnce")
}
This code will execute exactly once.