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jon kelson
5,149 PointsWhat is an optional Init / initialiser , and why do we need them ?
What is an optional Init / initialiser , and why do we need them ?
I understand the need for optionals Such as (name : String?) etc , but unsure why we need an Init optional .
Many thanks
2 Answers
Moritz Gruber
12,073 PointsIf your initialiser can return nil you use the optional initialiser (init?).
This is helpful because later xCode reminds you that you can get a nil value while initialising that object. If you assign the object to variable or constant it makes sure that it is also an optional type and forces you to take action while writing code.
Without the optional initialiser in this case you are likely to get an error when you app is running because you are trying to assign nil to something thats not an optional type , and its much harder to find and fix this error.
Cheers Moritz
jon kelson
5,149 Pointsok thanks Moritz , so,would i be right by saying you need to have an optional init with every optional object ? I need a bit more practice with optionals .