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iOS Swift Collections and Control Flow Dictionaries in Swift Modifying a Dictionary

Sebastian Eguez
Sebastian Eguez
8,248 Points
Posted by Sebastian Eguez
Sebastian Eguez
8,248 Points

What is the difference between updateValue and...

// Dictionaries

/*

        Airport Code (Key)      Airport Name (Value)

        LGA                     La Guardia
        LHR                     Heathrow
        CDG                     Charles de Gaulle
        HKG                     Hong Kong International
        DXB                     Dubai International

*/

// ["LGA": "La Guardia", "LHR": "Heathrow", "CDG": "Charles de Gaulle", "HKG": "Hong Kong International", "DXB": "Dubai International" // You can also write this like BELOW

var airportCodes: [String: String] =
[
    "LGA": "La Guardia",
    "LHR": "Heathrow",
    "CDG": "Charles de Gaulle",
    "HKG": "Hong Kong International",
    "DXB": "Dubai International"
]

let currentWeather = ["Temperature": 75.0] // Press the option button and hover over currentWeather

// Reading from a dictionary

airportCodes["LGA"]
airportCodes["HKG"]

// Inserting Key Value Pairs

airportCodes["SYD"] = "Sydney Airport" // airportCodes needs to be a var to insert a key value pair
airportCodes["LGA"] = "La Guardia International Airport"
airportCodes["LGA"]
airportCodes.updateValue("La Guardia Airport", forKey: "LGA")

What is the difference between changing "LGA": "La Guardia" using

airportCodes["LGA"] = "La Guardia International Airport"

and

airportCodes.updateValue("La Guardia Airport", forKey: "LGA")

?

Why and when should you use one or the other?

Thanks.

1 Answer

Matt Skelton
Matt Skelton
4,548 Points
Matt Skelton
Matt Skelton
4,548 Points

Hey Sebastian,

I started typing an explanation for the advantages of using each, and then I stumbled upon this in the Apple documentation.

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/CollectionTypes.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014097-CH8-ID113

Take a look at the section under "Accessing and Modifying a Dictionary", it covers your question with examples and describes it much better than I could!

mrtroy
mrtroy
8,069 Points
mrtroy
mrtroy
8,069 Points

The Apple documentation did a good job of explaining how to use the Dictionary but I am still wondering if the method way is better then an assignment. It does have more options but does it conserve CPU time or space?