Explain this code

Hi Antonija,

This looks intimidating, but if we break it down, it's not too bad. I think there's probably only one or two concepts in here you might not be familiar with.

The basic syntax of declaring a function is func [the name of the function] ([parameter(s)])->[return type] { [body of the function] }. You probably know that.

Let's start with the parameters: the first concept you might not be familiar with is a named parameter. This function takes a parameter, amount, which is of type Int, and which is named forIncrement. This means that when you call the function you would include the name of the parameter, and then the parameter itself, like this: makeIncrementer(forIncrement: 25);. The Swift compiler would require an integer because of that first Int.

Now for the return type. Just like always, everything between the -> and the { is the return type. In this case we have ()->Int. That kind of looks like its own function definition, doesn't it? In fact that's pretty much exactly what it is; this means that the function returns another function. Crazy, right? Anyway, it returns a function, and that function returns an integer, so that's the reason for the second Int.

So in summary, this is a function that takes a single integer as a parameter, and returns a function which itself will return an integer.

Sort of confusing, but not too bad, right?

Let me know if this makes sense!

Best,

-Greg