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iOS Swift 2.0 Enumerations and Optionals Introduction to Enumerations Enums and Objects

Akshat Jain
Akshat Jain
12,819 Points
Posted by Akshat Jain
Akshat Jain
12,819 Points

Why don't I need to return a stored property from a method?

 func move(direction: Direction) {
       switch direction {
         case .Up: location.y += 1
         case .Down: location.y -= 1
         case .Right: location.x += 1
         case .Left: location.x -= 1
         }  
 }

Why isn't this code something like this: 

func move(direction: Direction) -> Point {
       switch direction {
         case .Up: location.y += 1
         case .Down: location.y -= 1
         case .Right: location.x += 1
         case .Left: location.x -= 1
         } 
     return location
 }

1 Answer

Reed Carson
Reed Carson
8,306 Points
Reed Carson
Reed Carson
8,306 Points

We dont need to retrieve a value from the function. The purpose of the function is to modify existing values. We could do it the way you suggested but that would just add extra steps.

If you wanted to display text on a label on the screen, you could write a function that modifies the label directly, or write one that returns a value which is then assigned to the label. Both work, just the latter example requires more steps.