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iOS Enumerations and Optionals in Swift Introduction to Enumerations Methods on Enumerations

Kanish Chhabra
Kanish Chhabra
2,151 Points
Posted by Kanish Chhabra
Kanish Chhabra
2,151 Points

Why enums over objects?

We could've used structures to perform the exact same task for providing RGB and HSB values, why did we use enums then?

akyya mayberry
akyya mayberry
3,668 Points

Can you maybe post how you would do the struct implementation of this enum?

3 Answers

Caleb Kleveter
MOD
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points
Caleb Kleveter
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points

Enums integrate deeply with switch statements. They also have a 'feel' to them that after you have been using Swift for awhile makes them seem beautiful. Another use for enums is error handling. This gets covered in a later course.

Maybe to help explain the reason for enums, I will show you some example code from a side project I am working on. It is an enum that works as a wrapper around a font set like IonIcons, but for weather, called Weather Icons.

enum Icon {
        case clearDay
        case clearNight
        case rain
        case snow
        case sleet
        case wind
        case fog
        case cloudy
        case partlyCloudyDay
        case partlyCloudyNight
        case unSupported
        case up
        case down
        case humidity
        case precipitation

        var hex: String {
            switch self {
            case .clearDay: return "\u{f00d}"
            case .clearNight: return "\u{f02e}"
            case .rain: return "\u{f019}"
            case .snow: return "\u{f01b}"
            case .sleet: return "\u{f0b5}"
            case .wind: return "\u{f050}"
            case .fog: return "\u{f014}"
            case .cloudy: return "\u{f013}"
            case .partlyCloudyDay: return "\u{f002}"
            case .partlyCloudyNight: return "\u{f086}"
            case .unSupported: return "\u{f07b}"
            case .up: return "\u{f058}"
            case .down: return "\u{f044}"
            case .humidity: return "\u{f07a}"
            case .precipitation: return "\u{f04e}"
            }
        }

        static func getIcon(from string: String) -> Icon {
            switch string.uppercased() {
            case "CLEAR-DAY": return .clearDay
            case "CLEAR-NIGHT": return .clearNight
            case "RAIN": return .rain
            case "SNOW": return .snow
            case "SLEET": return .sleet
            case "WIND": return .wind
            case "FOG": return .fog
            case "CLOUDY": return .cloudy
            case "PARTLY-CLOUDY-DAY": return .partlyCloudyDay
            case "PARTLY-CLOUDY-NIGHT": return . partlyCloudyNight
            default: return .unSupported
            }
        }
    }

In this case, an enum makes a lot more sense then a Struct with static vars. When you have a Struct that works like an enum, you end up using the Struct wrong, That is what enums are designed for.

eberhapa
eberhapa
51,495 Points
eberhapa
eberhapa
51,495 Points

An enum is a struct under the hood. Its looks a little bit better for such small tasks where you have fixed values to choose from. If you would do it as a struct you would have to instantiate the struct or do static properties and create every single value yourself. An enum does that for you.

SivaKumar Kataru
SivaKumar Kataru
2,386 Points
SivaKumar Kataru
SivaKumar Kataru
2,386 Points

It is used to organise a finite set of data.