Swift optional binding in while loop - swift

According to Swift documentation:
Optional binding can be used with if and while statements to check for a value inside an optional, and to extract that value into a constant or variable, as part of a single action.
The documentation only shows an example of optional-binding using if statement like:
if let constantName = someOptional {
statements
}
I'm looking for an example of optional-binding using while loop?

It's the same
while let someValue = someOptional
{
doSomethingThatmightAffectSomeOptional(with: someValue)
}
Here is a concrete example of iterating a linked list.
class ListNode
{
var value: String
var next: ListNode?
init(_ value: String, _ tail: ListNode?)
{
self.value = value
self.next = tail
}
}
let list = ListNode("foo", ListNode("bar", nil))
var currentNode: ListNode? = list
while let thisNode = currentNode
{
print(thisNode.value)
currentNode = thisNode.next
}
// prints foo and then bar and then stops

I think the advantage of using while let ... is infinite loop that check some variable for any changes. But it's weird. For this kind of work you should use didSet. Or other good example is List data structure. Anyway, here is the example:
var value: Int? = 2
while let value = value {
print(value) // 2
break
}

Related

Forwarding function generic parameter to generic class type

I have created enum with associated value and I want to be able to dynamically update associated value. As far as I know Swift doesn't support that at the moment.
Because of that I used following approach:
enum PersonInfo {
class EnumValue<T> {
var value: T
init(_ value: T) {
self.value = value
}
}
// Instead of using String or Bool or any other type directly, use EnumValue wrapper
case firstName(EnumValue<String>)
case lastName(EnumValue<String>)
case isAdult(EnumValue<Bool>)
}
I want to add function that would update EnumValue.value property in following way:
func updateAssociatedValue<V>(_ updateValue: V) {
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: self)
for associatedValue in mirror.children {
guard let value = associatedValue.value as? EnumValue<V> else {
continue
}
value.value = updateValue
}
}
Problem is that this guard statement always fails (guard let value = associatedValue.value as? EnumValue<V>) and I can't figure it out why.
On the other hand, when I write updateAssociatedValue with typed type then things work properly:
// This works
func updateAssociatedValue(_ updateValue: String) {
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: self)
for associatedValue in mirror.children {
guard let value = associatedValue.value as? EnumValue<String> else {
continue
}
value.value = updateValue
}
}
Things compile normally but during the runtime guard statement always fails. Am I using generic value in some incorrect way? Should I use somehow updateValue.Type or updateValue.self (I tried but it didn't work).
Example of usage:
var array: [PersonInfo] = [
.firstName(PersonInfo.EnumValue("John")),
.lastName(PersonInfo.EnumValue("Doe")),
.isAdult(PersonInfo.EnumValue(false))
]
print(array)
// John, Doe, false
array.first?.updateAssociatedValue("Mike")
print(array)
// Mike, Doe, false
I can always reassign enum value in array but if possible I want to avoid that. That's the reason for asking this question.

Mark closure element mutable Swift

I have 2 structs, first is:
struct LineData {
init (name: String,
colorValue: String,
values: [Int]){
self.name = name
self.colorValue = colorValue
self.values = values
}
private var cachedMaxValue: Int? = nil
let name: String
let colorValue: String
let values: [Int]
// describe max value for Y axis for specific Line
mutating func maxValue() -> Int{
if let cached = cachedMaxValue {
return cached
}
self.cachedMaxValue = values.max()
return cachedMaxValue ?? 0
}
}
Second have array of LineData structs:
struct CharData {
init(xAxis: XAxis,
lines: [LineData]){
self.xAxis = xAxis
self.lines = lines
}
private var cachedMaxValue: Int? = nil
var xAxis: XAxis
var lines: [LineData]
// describe max value for Y axis among lines
func maxValue() -> Int{
var maxValues: [Int] = []
lines.forEach{it in
maxValues.append(it.maxValue())
}
return 0
}
}
Code above not compile, because, of error on method maxValues for struct CharData. It says Cannot use mutating member on immutable value: 'it' is a 'let' constant
What i want is, iterate through an array of lines and among it max values find greater value.
Since lines is an ordinary array, how about simply:
for i in 0..<lines.count {
maxValues.append(lines[i].maxValue())
}
perhaps not quite as Swifty, but nothing gets copied. The optimizer ought to give you pretty much the same performance as forEach.
It's the it parameter/object in the forEach that's immutable. Just like the error says: "it is a let". You could probably do something like this:
lines.forEach { it in
var mutableIt = it
maxValues.append(mutableIt.maxValue())
}
It should be noted that this will create a mutable copy of the "it" struct instance.

Swift Dictionary default value

A pattern I've gotten used to with Python's defaultdicts is a dictionary that returns a default value if the value for a given key has not been explicitly set. Trying to do this in Swift is a little verbose.
var dict = Dictionary<String, Array<Int>>()
let key = "foo"
var value: Array<Int>! = dict[key]
if value == nil {
value = Array<Int>()
dict[key] = value
}
I realize I can make a class that does this, but then the actual Dictionary has to be accessed through a property to use any of the other normal Dictionary methods
class DefaultDictionary<A: Hashable, B> {
let defaultFunc: () -> B
var dict = Dictionary<A, B>()
init(defaultFunc: () -> B) {
self.defaultFunc = defaultFunc
}
subscript(key: A) -> B {
get {
var value: B! = dict[key]
if value == nil {
value = defaultFunc()
dict[key] = value
}
return value
}
set {
dict[key] = newValue
}
}
}
Is there a better pattern for this?
This changed in Swift 4, and there's now a way to read a key's value or provide a default value if the key isn't present. For example:
let person = ["name": "Taylor", "city": "Nashville"]
let name = person["name", default: "Anonymous"]
This is particularly useful when modifying dictionary values, because you can write code like this:
var favoriteTVShows = ["Red Dwarf", "Blackadder", "Fawlty Towers", "Red Dwarf"]
var favoriteCounts = [String: Int]()
for show in favoriteTVShows {
favoriteCounts[show, default: 0] += 1
}
I covered this change and others in my article What's new in Swift 4.
Using Swift 2 you can achieve something similar to python's version with an extension of Dictionary:
// Values which can provide a default instance
protocol Initializable {
init()
}
extension Dictionary where Value: Initializable {
// using key as external name to make it unambiguous from the standard subscript
subscript(key key: Key) -> Value {
mutating get { return self[key, or: Value()] }
set { self[key] = newValue }
}
}
// this can also be used in Swift 1.x
extension Dictionary {
subscript(key: Key, or def: Value) -> Value {
mutating get {
return self[key] ?? {
// assign default value if self[key] is nil
self[key] = def
return def
}()
}
set { self[key] = newValue }
}
}
The closure after the ?? is used for classes since they don't propagate their value mutation (only "pointer mutation"; reference types).
The dictionaries have to be mutable (var) in order to use those subscripts:
// Make Int Initializable. Int() == 0
extension Int: Initializable {}
var dict = [Int: Int]()
dict[1, or: 0]++
dict[key: 2]++
// if Value is not Initializable
var dict = [Int: Double]()
dict[1, or: 0.0]
Unless I'm misunderstanding defaultdict in Python, I don't see how nil coalescing wouldn't work for you. Let's say you had a dictionary of type [Int:Int], and you wanted it to return 0 by default. With nil coalescing it looks like this:
let dict = [1:10, 2:8, 3:64]
let valueForKey = dict[4] ?? 0
You mentioned in a comment that that wouldn't work because it wouldn't update the dictionary. I don't understand the problem, though: why would you need to update the dictionary if you knew that every instance of nil would be replaced by your default? Maybe I'm missing something here but it seems like defaults and nil coalescing are (in practice) the same.
You can change the syntax a little, if it makes things more clear:
extension Dictionary {
subscript(key: Key, or r: Value) -> Value {
get { return self[key] ?? r }
set { self[key] = newValue }
}
}
In this case, the example above could be written like this:
let dict = [1:10, 2:8, 3:64]
let valueForKey = dict[4, or: 0]
In this case, mutating methods can work on the keys, like this:
var dict = [2: 8, 3: 64, 1: 10]
dict[2, or: 0]++
dict // [2: 9, 3: 64, 1: 10]
dict[4, or: 0]++
dict // [2: 9, 3: 64, 1: 10, 4: 1]
This extension is similar to the default subscript in Swift 4, with the difference that it will actually store the default value in the dictionary.
(It's also similar to QByte's answer, with the difference that it uses an autoclosure to prevent accessing the default when not needed).
extension Dictionary {
subscript(key: Key, setDefault defaultValue: #autoclosure () -> Value) -> Value {
mutating get {
return self[key] ?? {
let value = defaultValue()
self[key] = value
return value
}()
}
}
}
Note that no setter is defined for the subscript as the standard default subscript already fulfills this purpose.
Example:
var items = [String: ComplexItem]()
let item1 = items["milk", setDefault: ComplexItem()]
let item2 = items["milk", setDefault: ComplexItem()]
Here the ComplexItem is only created once because the dictionary retained it after the first access.

Nested Swift Dictionaries

I want to initialize a dictionary with a dictionary nested inside like this:
var a = [Int:[Int:Float]]()
a[1][2] = 12
But I get an error:
(Int:[Int:Float]) does not have a member named 'subscript'
I've hacked at a variety of other approaches, all of them running into some kind of issue.
Any idea why this doesn't work?
You can create your own 2D dictionary like this:
struct Dict2D<X:Hashable,Y:Hashable,V> {
var values = [X:[Y:V]]()
subscript (x:X, y:Y)->V? {
get { return values[x]?[y] }
set {
if values[x] == nil {
values[x] = [Y:V]()
}
values[x]![y] = newValue
}
}
}
var a = Dict2D<Int,Int,Float>()
a[1,2] = 12
println(a[1,2]) // Optional(12.0)
println(a[0,2]) // nil
The point is you access the element via a[x,y] instead of a[x][y] or a[x]?[y].
It's giving you that error because your first subscript returns an optional so it may return a dictionary or nil. In the case that it returns nil the second subscript would be invalid. You can force it to unwrap the optional value by using an exlamation point.
var a = [1 : [ 2: 3.14]]
a[1]
a[1]![2]
If you aren't positive that a[1] is non-nil you may want to safely unwrap with a question mark instead.
var a = [1 : [ 2: 3.14]]
a[1]
a[1]?[2]
You can also assign using this method. (As of Beta 5)
var a = [Int:[Int:Float]]()
a[1] = [Int: Float]()
a[1]?[2] = 12.0
a[1]?[2] //12.0
Another way to do it is with an extension to the standard dictionary:
extension Dictionary {
mutating func updateValueForKey(key: Key, updater: ((previousValue: Value?) -> Value)) {
let previousValue = self[key]
self[key] = updater(previousValue: previousValue)
}
}
Example:
var a = [Int:[Int:Float]]()
a.updateValueForKey(1) { nestedDict in
var nestedDict = nestedDict ?? [Int:Float]()
nestedDict[2] = 12
return nestedDict
}

Working with optionals in Swift programming language

As far as I know the recommended way to use optionals (Int in this example) is the following:
var one:Int?
if var maybe = one {
println(maybe)
}
Is it possible to use a shorter way to do something like the following?
var one:Int?
var two:Int?
var three:Int?
var result1 = one + two + three // error because not using !
var result2 = one! + two! + three! // error because they all are nil
Update
To be more clear about what I'm trying to do: I have the following optionals
var one:Int?
var two:Int?
var three:Int?
I don't know if either one or two or three are nil or not. If they are nil, I wan't them to be ignored in the addition. If they have a value, I wan't them to be added.
If I have to use the recommended way I know, it would look something like this: (unnested)
var result = 0
if var maybe = one {
result += maybe
}
if var maybe = two {
result += maybe
}
if var maybe = three {
result += maybe
}
Is there a shorter way to do this?
Quick note - if let is preferred for optional binding - let should always be used where possible.
Perhaps Optionals aren't a good choice for this situation. Why not make them standard Ints with a default value of 0? Then any manipulation becomes trivial and you can worry about handling None values at the point of assignment, rather than when you're working on the values?
However, if you really want to do this then a tidier option is to put the Optionals into an Array and use reduce on it:
let sum = [one,two,three,four,five].reduce(0) {
if ($1) {
return $0 + $1!
}
return $0
}
That's exactly the point of optionals — they may be nil or non-nil, but unwrapping them when they're nil is an error. There are two types of optionals:
T? or Optional<T>
var maybeOne: Int?
// ...
// Check if you're not sure
if let one = maybeOne {
// maybeOne was not nil, now it's unwrapped
println(5 + one)
}
// Explicitly unwrap if you know it's not nil
println(5 + one!)
T! or ImplicitlyUnwrappedOptional<T>
var hopefullyOne: Int!
// ...
// Check if you're not sure
if hopefullyOne {
// hopefullyOne was not nil
println(5 + hopefullyOne)
}
// Just use it if you know it's not nil (implicitly unwrapped)
println(5 + hopefullyOne)
If you need to check multiple optionals at once here there are a few things you might try:
if maybeOne && maybeTwo {
println(maybeOne! + maybeTwo!)
}
if hopefullyOne && hopefullyTwo {
println(hopefullyOne + hopefullyTwo)
}
let opts = [maybeOne, maybeTwo]
var total = 0
for opt in opts {
if opt { total += opt! }
}
(It seems you can't use the let optional binding syntax with more than one optional at once, at least for now...)
Or for extra fun, something more generic and Swifty:
// Remove the nils from a sequence of Optionals
func sift<T, S: Sequence where S.GeneratorType.Element == Optional<T>>(xs: S) -> GeneratorOf<T> {
var gen = xs.generate()
return GeneratorOf<T> {
var next: T??
do {
next = gen.next()
if !next { return nil } // Stop at the end of the original sequence
} while !(next!) // Skip to the next non-nil value
return next!
}
}
let opts: [Int?] = [1, 3, nil, 4, 7]
reduce(sift(opts), 0) { $0 + $1 } // 1+3+4+7 = 15