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iOS Swift Functions and Optionals Optionals What is an Optional?

Omotayo Olawepo
Omotayo Olawepo
2,803 Points

Stuck on this optional question

The search function below returns a name if it is found in the array and an empty string if it is not found. Modify the search function to return an optional instead of just a String. In addition, you have to make sure the function returns a nil if the name is not found in the array.

search.swift
func search(#name: String) -> String? {
    let names = ["Doc","Grumpy","Happy","Sleepy","Bashful","Sneezy","Dopey"]
    for n in names {
        if n == name {
            return n
        }
    }
    return "nil"
}

if let something = search(name:"Snow White") 
{ println("Name Found: (something)")
}

1 Answer

Richard Lu
Richard Lu
20,185 Points

Hey Omotayo,

Your solution is very close. When you return nil, you do not need to have quotes around it because that'll make it into a string. You want to express "nothingness", and in order to accomplish that you must use the value nil.

func search(#name: String) -> String? {
    let names = ["Doc","Grumpy","Happy","Sleepy","Bashful","Sneezy","Dopey"]
    for n in names {
        if n == name {
            return n
        }
    }
    return nil   // no quotes
}

Happy coding! :)