Idiomatic way to unwrap an integer string input - swift

Sorry if this is a basic question, but I am learning Swift and I don’t understand how to unwrap inputs from readLine().
For example, I would expect this
let n: Int = Int(readLine(strippingNewline: true) ?? -1)
to work, but it doesn’t. Nor does replacing the -1 with a "-1" to match types.
let n: Int = Int(readLine(strippingNewline: true) ?? "-1")
What is the “right” way to do this then? Can someone explain exactly what Swift is doing when it unwraps optionals and uses them as arguments for a constructor like Int?
The whole concept of optionals is a bit foreign to me (a Python programmer); in Python you handle invalid input the “ghetto way”, putting out fires only after they happen:
try:
n = int(input())
except ValueError:
n = None
but I assume the paradigm in Swift is different.

There are two optionals at play here.
First, readLine(strippingNewline: true) is optional. It can return nil if there's no input recieved prior to the End of File (EOF) character being received. It must be unwrapped before being passed into Int()
Secondly, Int() is optional, because the String it was given may not be a valid string representation of a number.
Do not use -1 in Swift to represent "no value". This is called a sentinel value, and it's exactly what optionals are invented to prevent. How do you distinguish between a -1 meaning "no/invalid input", and a -1 meaning "the user's input was -1?
Here is how I would write this code:
guard let userInput = readLine(strippingNewline: true) else {
// If we got to here, readLine(strippingNewLine:) returned nil
fatalError("Received EOF before any input was given")
}
// If we got to here, then userInput is not nil
if let n = Int(userInput) {
// If we got to here, then userInput contained a valid
// String representation of an Int
print("The user entered the Int \(n)")
}
else {
// If we got to here, then userInput did not contain a
// valid String representation of an Int.
print("That is not a valid Int.")
}

Related

Why is a non-optional value printed as optional?

I've read Non-optional shown as optional on print but that doesn't help my question.
I'm returning a Integer, but once it's printing it's being printed as optional. Why?
I'm trying to solve a code challenge. The goal is to:
Write an extension for collections of integers that returns the number
of times a specific digit appears in any of its numbers.
Here is my implementation:
extension Collection where Iterator.Element == Int {
func challenge37(count character : Character) -> Int?{
guard nil != Int(String(character)) else{
print("character wasn't an integer")
return nil
}
var counts : [Int] = []
for item in self{
var counter = 0
let stringInt = String(describing: item)
for currentCharacter in stringInt.characters{
if character == currentCharacter{
counter += 1
}
}
counts.append(counter)
}
guard let min = counts.min() else{
print("no min")
return nil
}
return min
}
}
As you can see here I'm printing it:
print([5,15,512,522].challenge37(count: "5")) // Optional(1)
Inside the function your returning an Int. However the actual signature of your method is Int? meaning it is in fact an optional and you got it wrong!
Basically your method signature is correct. But when you call the function you're getting an optional as the response and must unwrap it.
print([5,15,512,522].challenge37(count: "5")!) // 1
Additionally had you paid close attention you would have noticed that Xcode must gave you a warning (and solutions to solve it)
Expression implicitly coerced from Int? to Any
Xcode gave you the warning because it found out that you're attempting to print an optional and knows that's usually unwanted. Obviously its solution is to unwrap it either through force unwrap or defaulting.

Swift 3 capitalize string

let first = postalText.text?[(postalText.text?.startIndex)!]
let second = postalText.text?[(postalText.text?.index((postalText.text?.startIndex)!, offsetBy: 1))!]
let third = postalText.text?[(postalText.text?.index((postalText.text?.startIndex)!, offsetBy: 2))!]
I'm trying to capitalize the FIRST and THIRD character and then merge all 3 into a new string
but the .uppercase and .capitalized doesn't work .
Also how do i check that the SECOND character is a number ?
.uppercased and .capitalized only work for strings, what you show there are Characters. You can cast a Character as a String and make it capitalized.
let firstCapitalized = String(first!).capitalized
If you want to check if a Character is an int, you can also make it a String, and then check if casting the String as an Int is non-nil:
if Int("\(second!)") != nil {
print("Is Integer")
}
These cases all assume your first, second, and third are all non-nil, and force-unwraps them.
EDIT
I had some free time and was overlooking some old posts on SO, and I realized this answer I posted isn't using the best coding form. First off, force unwrapping anything is always a bad idea (it's a recipe for a crash in the future), so for the first part. Do something like this:
let firstCapitalized = String(first ?? "").capitalized
This at least gives you a back-out in case first == nil then you'll just be stuck with an empty string.
For the second part, I would use optional unwrapping instead of if Int("\(second!)") != nil. I would say the more proper method would be something like this:
if let second = second, let stringConvertedToInteger = Int("\(String(second))") {
print("\(stringConvertedToInteger) is an integer")
} else {
print("Either second is nil, or it cannot be converted to an integer")
}
This will optionally unwrap the character second, and if it has a value, convert it to an integer (should it be one, checked by optional unwrapping). This is the safest way to do it, and will keep you from experiencing any runtime errors.

Why converting Double to Int doesn't return optional Int in Swift?

Converting a String to Int returns an optional value but converting a Double to Int does not return an optional value. Why is that? I wanted to check if a double value is bigger than maximum Int value, but because converting function does not return an optional value, I am not be able to check by using optional binding.
var stringNumber: String = "555"
var intValue = Int(stringNumber) // returns optional(555)
var doubleNumber: Double = 555
var fromDoubleToInt = Int(doubleNumber) // returns 555
So if I try to convert a double number bigger than maximum Integer, it crashes instead of returning nil.
var doubleNumber: Double = 55555555555555555555
var fromDoubleToInt = Int(doubleNumber) // Crashes here
I know that there's another way to check if a double number is bigger than maximum Integer value, but I'm curious as why it's happening this way.
If we consider that for most doubles, a conversion to Int simply means dropping the decimal part:
let pieInt = Int(3.14159) // 3
Then the only case in which the Int(Double) constructor returns nil is in the case of an overflow.
With strings, converting to Int returns an optional, because generally, strings, such as "Hello world!" cannot be represented as an Int in a way that universally makes sense. So we return nil in the case that the string cannot be represented as an integer. This includes, by the way, values that can be perfectly represented as doubles or floats:
Consider:
let iPi = Int("3.14159")
let dPi = Double("3.14159")
In this case, iPi is nil while dPi is 3.14159. Why? Because "3.14159" doesn't have a valid Int representation.
But meanwhile, when we use the Int constructor which takes a Double and returns non-optional, we get a value.
So, if that constructor is changed to return an optional, why would it return 3 for 3.14159 instead of nil? 3.14159 can't be represented as an integer.
But if you want a method that returns an optional Int, returning nil when the Double would overflow, you can just write that method.
extension Double {
func toInt() -> Int? {
let minInt = Double(Int.min)
let maxInt = Double(Int.max)
guard case minInt ... maxInt = self else {
return nil
}
return Int(self)
}
}
let a = 3.14159.toInt() // returns 3
let b = 555555555555555555555.5.toInt() // returns nil
Failable initializers and methods with Optional return types are designed for scenarios where you, the programmer, can't know whether a parameter value will cause failure, or where verifying that an operation will succeed is equivalent to performing the operation:
let intFromString = Int(someString)
let valueFromDict = dict[someKey]
Parsing an integer from a string requires checking the string for numeric/non-numeric characters, so the check is the same as the work. Likewise, checking a dictionary for the existence of a key is the same as looking up the value for the key.
By contrast, certain operations are things where you, the programmer, need to verify upfront that your parameters or preconditions meet expectations:
let foo = someArray[index]
let bar = UInt32(someUInt64)
let baz: UInt = someUInt - anotherUInt
You can — and in most cases should — test at runtime whether index < someArray.count and someUInt64 < UInt32.max and someUInt > anotherUInt. These assumptions are fundamental to working with those kinds of types. On the one hand, you really want to design around them from the start. On the other, you don't want every bit of math you do to be peppered with Optional unwrapping — that's why we have types whose axioms are stated upfront.

Optional issue converting String to Int in Swift 1.2

I can't figure out why this 'optional' isn't working in scenario 1, but without the optional ? it works in scenario 2.
Using Swift v 1.2, xCode 6.2
var stuff = "6t"
// SCENARIO 1
// Why is this failing when stuff contains non-digit characters?
// i.e. it works if stuff = "45".
if let value: Int? = stuff.toInt() {
println("value \(value!)")
}
// SCENARIO 2
// This works!
if let value = stuff.toInt() {
println("val3 \(value)")
}
For Reference also see these SO Answers:
* I wonder if the Sift 1.2 example/Answer here is just plain wrong?
Swift - Converting String to Int
Converting String to Int in Swift
The first IF is always true.
Infact in both cases:
when the toInt() returns a valid Int
when returns nil
the if let will succeed (and yes, the first IF is useless).
Specifically in your code toInt() returns nil in both scenarios.
But in your first scenario you are simply accepting nil as a valid value to enter the THEN block.
There is no point of using if let value: Int?. If the if let works, then the value is an Int. There is no way that it could be nil. Therefore, you do not need to declare it as an optional.

Swift 1.2 Concatenate String

I'm getting errors when concatenating string:
let likeKey = "like-" + foodPhotoObjects[indexPath.row].objectId
Error
binary operator '+' cannot be applied to operands of type 'String' and 'String?!'
So, you have an implicitly-wrapped optional of an optional string, something like this:
struct Thing {
let objectId: String?!
}
let foodPhotoObjects: [Thing] = [Thing(objectId: "2")]
With any doubly-wrapped optional, to get to the object inside you’d need to unwrap it twice:
// first unwrap the String?! into a String?
if let outer = foodPhotoObjects[0].objectId,
// then unwrap that String? into a String
inner = outer {
// inner is now a String
println("like-\(inner)")
}
The key here is even though the outer optional is implicit (i.e. ! rather than ?), you can still unwrap implicit optionals using if let, so the implicitness is irrelevant when doing this.
An alternative way of handling this kind of thing, rather than if-let, is to use map:
let concatedString = foodPhotoObjects[indexPath.row].objectId.map {
"like-" + $0
} ?? ""
map on an optional means: if the optional contains a value, change the value using this function and return that as an optional, otherwise return nil. So, unwrap the String? and prepend “like” to it.
?? on an optional means: if the preceding value is nil, replace it with the default on the right-hand side (the empty string), otherwise unwrap it and return that (i.e. the value we just mapped).
Now for the tricky part: because the value we’re calling map on is an implicit optional, it will be implicitly unwrapped – that is, the map is being called on the inner String? rather than on the String?!. This is unlike the case with if let where that was run on the implicit optional first, then the inner optional.
As with all implicit optionals, there’s a risk that they might actually be nil in which case your code would blow up, like so:
let explode = Thing(objectId: nil)
// the next line will generate fatal error: unexpectedly
// found nil while unwrapping an Optional value
explode.objectId.map { "like-" + $0 }
If this is a concern, you could guard against it with some optional chaining:
// note, ? after objectId
let concatedString = foodPhotoObjects[indexPath.row].objectId?.map {
"like-" + $0
} ?? ""
This snippet could win a prize for most optional-handling techniques crammed into a single statement… but it should do what you need.
Swift does not do implicit conversion, even if both are of same type and one of them is of optional type.
Try this.
var concatedString = ""
if let foodphoto = foodPhotoObjects[indexPath.row].objectId as? String {
concatedString = "like-" + foodphoto
}