Classes

In Objective C, you create separate interface (.h) and implementation (.m) files for classes. Swift no longer requires developers to do that. You can define classes in a single file (.swift) without separating the external interface and implementation.
To define a class, you use the class keyword. Here is a sample class in Swift:

class Recipe {
    var name: String = ""
    var duration: Int = 10
    var ingredients: String[] = ["egg"]
}

Similar to Objective C, right? In the above example, we define a Recipe class with three properties including name duration and ingredients. Swift requires you to provide the default values of the properties. You’ll end up with a compilation error if the initial values are missing.
What if you don’t want to assign a default value? Swift allows you to write a question mark (?) after the type of a value to mark the value as optional.


class Recipe {
    var name: String?
    var duration: Int = 10
    var ingredients: String[]?
}

In the above code, the name and ingredients properties are automatically assigned with a default value of nil. To create an instance of a class, just use the below syntax:

var recipeItem = Recipe()

You use the dot notation to access or change the property of an instance.

recipeItem.name = "Mushroom Risotto"
recipeItem.duration = 30
recipeItem.ingredients = ["1 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms", "2 tbsp olive oil", "1 onion,
chopped", "2 garlic cloves", "350g/12oz arborio rice", "1.2 litres/2 pints hot vegetable
stock", "salt and pepper", "25g/1oz butter"]

Swift allows you to subclass Objective-C classes and adopt Objective-C protocols. For example, if you have a SimpleTableViewController class that extends from UIViewController class and adopts both UITableViewDelegate and UITableViewDataSource protocols, you can still use the Objective C classes and protocols but the syntax is a bit different.

Objective C:

@interface SimpleTableViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDelegate,UITableViewDataSource>

Swift:

class SimpleTableViewController : UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource

Dictionaries

Swift only provides two collection types. One is arrays and the other is dictionaries. Each value in a dictionary is associated with a unique key. If you’re familiar with NSDictionary in Objective C, the syntax of initializing a dictionary in Swift is similar. Here is an example:

Objective C:

NSDictionary *companies = @{@"AAPL" : @"Apple Inc", @"GOOG" : @"Google Inc", @"AMZN" :@"Amazon.com, Inc", @"FB" : @"Facebook Inc"};

Swift:

var companies = ["AAPL" : "Apple Inc", "GOOG" : "Google Inc", "AMZN": "Amazon.com, Inc",
"FB" : "Facebook Inc"]

The key and value in the key-value pairs are separated by a colon. Like array and other variables, Swift automatically detects the type of the key and value. However, if you like, you can specify the type information by using the following syntax:

var companies: Dictionary<String, String> = ["AAPL" : "Apple Inc", "GOOG" : "Google Inc",
"AMZN" : "Amazon.com, Inc", "FB" : "Facebook Inc"]

To iterate through a dictionary, use the for-in loop.

for (stockCode, name) in companies {
    println("\(stockCode) = \(name)")
}

You can also use the keys and values properties to retrieve the keys and values of the dictionary.

for stockCode in companies.keys {
    println("Stock code = \(stockCode)")
}
for name in companies.values {
    println("Company name = \(name)")
}

To access the value of a particular key, specify the key using the subscript syntax. If you want to add a new key-value pair to the dictionary, simply use the key as the subscript and assign it with a value like below:

companies["TWTR"] = "Twitter Inc"

Now the “companies” dictionary contains a total of 5 items. The “TWTR”:”Twitter Inc” pair is automatically added to the “companies” dictionary.

Arrays

The syntax of declaring an array in Swift is similar to that in Objective c.
 
            Here is an example:
   

Objective c:

NSArray *recipes = @[@"Egg Benedict", @"Mushroom Risotto", @"Full Breakfast", @"Hamburger", @"Ham and Egg Sandwich"];

Swift: 

var recipes = ["Egg Benedict", "Mushroom Risotto", "Full Breakfast", "Hamburger", "Ham and Egg Sandwich"]

While you can put any objects in NSArray or NSMutableArray in Objective C, arrays in Swift can only store items of the same type. In the above example, you can only store strings in the string array. With type inference, Swift automatically detects the array type. But if you like, you can also specify the type in the following form: 


var recipes : String[] = ["Egg Benedict", "Mushroom Risotto", "Full Breakfast", "Hamburger","Ham and Eg Sandwich"]


Like NSArray, the Swift provides various methods for you to query and manipulate an array.
Simply use the count method to find the number of items in the array: 

var numberOfItems = recipes.count

// recipes.count will return 5

In Objective C you use the addObject: method of NSMutableArray to add a new item to an array. Swift makes the operation even simpler. You can add an item by using the “+=” operator: 

recipes += ["Thai Shrimp Cake"]

This applies when you need to add multiple items:

recipes += ["Creme Brelee", "White Chocolate Donut", "Ham and Cheese Panini"]

To access or change a particular item in an array, pass the index of the item by using subscript syntax just like that in Objective C. 

var recipeItem = recipes[0]

recipes[1] = "Cupcake"

One interesting feature of Swift is that you can use “...” to change a range of values. Here is an example:

recipes[1...3] = ["Cheese Cake", "Greek Salad", "Braised Beef Cheeks"]

This changes the item 2 to 4 of the recipes array to “Cheese Cake”, “Greek Salad” and “Braised Beef Cheeks”. (Remember the first item in an array starts with the index 0. This is why index 1 refers to item 2.)

If you print the array onto console, here is the result: 

Egg Benedict
Cheese Cake
Greek Salad
Braised Beef Cheeks
Ham and Egg Sandwich 

Basic String Manipulation

In Swift, strings are represented by the String type, which is fully Unicode-compliant. You can declare strings as variables or constants:

let dontModifyMe = "You cannot modify this string"
var modifyMe = "You can modify this string"

In Objective-C, you have to choose between NSString and NSMutableString classes to indicate whether the string can be modified. You do not need to make such choice in Swift. Whenever you assign a string as variable (i.e. var), the string can be modified in your code.

Swift simplifies string manipulating and allows you to create a new string from a mix of constants, variables, literals, as well as, expressions. Concatenating strings is super easy. Simply add two strings together using the “+” operator:

let firstMessage = "Swift is awesome. "
let secondMessage= "What do you think?"
var message = firstMessage + secondMessage
println(message)

Swift automatically combines both messages and you should see the following message in console. Note that println is a global function in Swift to print the message in console.
Swift is awesome. What do you think?
You can do that in Objective C by using stringWithFormat: method. But isn’t the Swift version more readable?

NSString *firstMessage = @"Swift is awesome. ";
NSString *secondMessage = @"What do you think?";
NSString *message = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@%@", firstMessage, secondMessage];
NSLog(@"%@", message);

String comparison is more straightforward. In Objective C, you can’t use the == operator to compare two strings. Instead you use the isEqualToString: method of NSString to check if both strings are equal. Finally, Swift allows you to compare strings directly by using the == operator.

var string1 = "Hello"
var string2 = "Hello"
if string1 == string2 {
        println("Both are the same")
}

Starting With Swift

Swift is a new programming language for iOS, as well as, OS X apps. As compared to Objective-C, Swift is a neat language and will definitely make developing iOS apps easier.

Variables, Constants and Type Inference: 

In Swift, you declare variables with the “var” keyword and constants using the “let” keyword. Here is an example: 

These are the two keywords you need to know for variable and constant declaration. You simply use the “let” keyword for storing value that is unchanged. Otherwise, use “var” keyword for storing values that can be changed. 

Isn’t it easier than Objective-C? 

What’s interesting is that Swift allows you to use nearly any character for both variable and constant names. You can even use an emoji character for the naming. 

var numberOfRows = 30
let maxNumberOfRows = 100

Quick Tip 

You may wonder how you can type an emoji character in Mac OS. It’s easy. Just press Control-Command-spacebar and an emoji picker will be displayed.

You may notice a huge difference in variable declaration between Objective-C and Swift. In Objective-C, developers have to specify explicitly the type information when declaring a variable. Be it an int or double or NSString, etc.

It’s your responsibility to specify the type. For Swift, you no longer need to annotate variables with type information. It provides a huge feature known as Type inference. This feature enables the compiler to deduce the type automatically by examining the values you provide in the variable.

It makes variable and constant declaration much simpler, as compared to Objective-C. Swift provides an option to explicitly specify the type information if you wish. The below example shows how to specify type information when declaring a variable in Swift:

var myMessage : String = "Swift is the future!

No Semicolons:

In Objective-C, you need to end each statement in your code with a semicolon. If you forget to do so, you will end up with a compilation error.

As you can see from the above examples, Swift doesn’t require you to write a semicolon (;) after each statement, though you can still do so if you like.

var myMessage = "No semicolon is needed"const int count = 10;

double price = 23.55;

NSString *myMessage = @"Objective-C is not dead yet!";

// count is inferred to be of type Int

var price = 23.55

// price is inferred to be of type Double

var myMessage = "Swift is the future!"

// myMessage is inferred to be of type String

let count = 10