If I have an array in Swift, and try to access an index that is out of bounds, there is an unsurprising runtime error:
var str = ["Apple", "Banana", "Coconut"]
str[0] // "Apple"
str[3] // EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION
However, I would have thought with all the optional chaining and safety that Swift brings, it would be trivial to do something like:
let theIndex = 3
if let nonexistent = str[theIndex] { // Bounds check + Lookup
print(nonexistent)
...do other things with nonexistent...
}
Instead of:
let theIndex = 3
if (theIndex < str.count) { // Bounds check
let nonexistent = str[theIndex] // Lookup
print(nonexistent)
...do other things with nonexistent...
}
But this is not the case - I have to use the ol' if
statement to check and ensure the index is less than str.count
.
I tried adding my own subscript()
implementation, but I'm not sure how to pass the call to the original implementation, or to access the items (index-based) without using subscript notation:
extension Array {
subscript(var index: Int) -> AnyObject? {
if index >= self.count {
NSLog("Womp!")
return nil
}
return ... // What?
}
}
Alex's answer has good advice and solution for the question, however, I've happened to stumble on a nicer way of implementing this functionality:
extension Collection {
// Returns the element at the specified index if it is within bounds, otherwise nil.
subscript(safe index: Index) -> Element? {
indices.contains(index) ? self[index] : nil
}
}
let array = [1, 2, 3]
for index in -20...20 {
if let item = array[safe: index] {
print(item)
}
}