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iOS

cameron swenson
cameron swenson
9,951 Points
Posted by cameron swenson
cameron swenson
9,951 Points

.contains() on an array of a struct

Running the .contians() method on an array of basic types such as Int, String, etc. is fairly straight forward:

let array = [1, 2, 3, 4]
if array.contains(4) {
print("true") 
}

but what about an array of a custom type such as a struct?

struct Dude {
var dudeName: String
var dudeAge: Int
}

let steve = Dude(dudeName: "Steve", dudeAge: 24)
let arrayOfDudes  = [steve , Dude(dudeName: "Josh", dudeAge: 42)]

arrayOfDudes.contains(steve) gives an error.

I found a post on a forum showing me how to do .filter() but I'm not sure that is the cleanest/best method:

struct Dude {
var dudeName: String
var dudeAge: Int
}

let steve = Dude(dudeName: "Steve", dudeAge: 24)
let arrayOfDudes  = [steve , Dude(dudeName: "Josh", dudeAge: 42)]

let found = arrayOfDudes.filter{ $0.name == "Steve"}.count > 0

Following the same logic I found that .contains() would be ran the same way and "throw" the same true flag I'm looking for:

struct Dude {
var dudeName: String
var dudeAge: Int
}

let steve = Dude(dudeName: "Steve", dudeAge: 24)
let arrayOfDudes  = [steve , Dude(dudeName: "Josh", dudeAge: 42)]

let found = arrayOfDudes.contains{ $0.name == "Steve"}

What are the advantages of one or the other? What does the "$0" signify? Is there a smarter way of handling this?

1 Answer

Michael Reining
Michael Reining
10,101 Points
Michael Reining
Michael Reining
10,101 Points

The $0 is shorthand code that can be used for closures. It can be confusing at times.

There is an example here:

http://fuckingswiftblocksyntax.com/

Filter is using functional programming. There are some good references here to learn more about imperative vs. functional programming. They both have their pros and cons.

http://jamesonquave.com/blog/functional-programming-in-swift/

http://www.raywenderlich.com/82599/swift-functional-programming-tutorial

I hope that helps,

Mike

PS: Thanks to the awesome resources on Team Treehouse, I launched my first app.

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