Swift in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself

In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, Sams Teach Yourself Swift in 24 Hours helps you build next-generation OS X and iOS apps with Apple’s new Swift programming language. This book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach helps you quickly master Swift’s core concepts, structure, and syntax and use Swift to write safe, powerful, modern code. In just a few hours you’ll be applying advanced features such as extensions, closures, protocols, and generics. Every lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Swift development tasks. Practical, hands-on examples show you how to apply what you learn. Quizzes and exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills. Notes and tips point out shortcuts and solutions. Learn how to... Set up your Swift development environment Master Swift’s fundamental data types and operators Make the most of arrays and dictionaries Control program flow, modify execution paths, and iterate code Perform complex actions with functions Work with higher-order functions and closures Harness the power of structs, enums, classes, and class inheritance Customize initializers of classes, structs, and enums Implement instance methods, type methods, and advanced type functionality Take full advantage of Swift’s advanced memory allocation Extend type functionality with protocols and extensions Leverage the power of generics, chaining, and other advanced features Interoperate with Objective-C code Interact with user interfaces Take advantage of Swift’s Standard Library features and functions Who Should Read this Book Beginner-intermediate level programmers Advanced programmers who are not yet familiar with Swift can benefit

Table of Contents:
Introduction   xv HOUR 1: Introducing the Swift Development Environment   1 What Is Swift?    2 Getting Started   2 Summary   9 Q&A   10 Workshop   10 Exercise   11 HOUR 2: Learning Swift’s Fundamental Data Types   13 Constants in Swift   13 Variables in Swift    14 Introducing Data Types   15 Summary   23 Q&A   24 Workshop   24 Exercise   25 HOUR 3: Using Operators in Swift   27 Unary Operators   27 Binary Operators   29 Ternary Conditional Operators   35 Summary   35 Q&A   36 Workshop   36 Exercise   37 HOUR 4: Working with Collection Types   39 Arrays   39 Dictionaries   46 Tuples   50 Summary   51 Q&A   51 Workshop   52 Exercise   52 HOUR 5: Understanding Optional Values   53 What Are Optional Values?    53 How to Designate a Variable as Optional    54 Wrapping and Unwrapping Optional Variables   54 Use Case for Optionals   58 Summary   61 Q&A   62 Workshop   62 Exercise   63 HOUR 6: Controlling Program Flow with Conditionals   65 The if Statement    65 The switch Statement    70 Summary   77 Q&A   78 Workshop   78 Exercise   80 HOUR 7: Iterating Code with Loops   81 Two Categories of Loops   81 Transferring Control in Loops   93 Summary   95 Q&A   95 Workshop   96 Exercise   97 HOUR 8: Using Functions to Perform Actions   99 The Nature of Functions in Swift   100 General Function Syntax and Structure   100 Functions with No Parameters and No Return Type   102 The Type of a Function   102 Functions with Parameters   103 Functions with Variadic Parameters   105 Functions with Return Types   106 External Parameter Names   111 Default Parameter Values   112 Change Argument Values with In-Out Parameters   112 Summary   113 Q&A   114 Workshop   114 Exercise   115 HOUR 9: Understanding Higher Order Functions and Closures   117 Higher Order Functions   117 Closures   124 Summary   132 Q&A   133 Workshop   133 Exercise   135 HOUR 10: Learning About Structs and Classes   137 Overview of Structs and Classes in Swift   137 What Swift Structs and Classes Have in Common   139 Differences Between Structs and Classes   147 When to Use a Class or a Struct   150 Summary   151 Q&A   151 Workshop   152 Exercise   153 HOUR 11: Implementing Class Inheritance   155 What Is Inheritance?    155 Identifying a Base Class   156 Creating a Subclass   157 Overriding Inherited Methods   159 Accessing super   162 Preventing Overrides   164 Class Identity   166 Summary   167 Q&A   168 Workshop   169 Exercise   170 HOUR 12: Harnessing the Power of Enums   171 Understanding Swift Enums   171 Swift Enum Structure   172 Raw Values   173 Enum Shorthand Syntax   175 Associated Values   177 Switching Enum Values   178 Adding Instance Methods to Enums   180 Summary   182 Q&A   183 Workshop   183 Exercise   184 HOUR 13: Customizing Initializers of Classes, Structs, and Enums   185 Initialization   185 Initializing Value Types   187 Advanced Initialization   193 Summary   201 Q&A    202 Workshop   202 Exercise   203 HOUR 14: Digging Deeper with Properties   205 Stored Properties   206 Computed Properties   209 Property Accessors   209 Property Observers   212 Inheriting and Overriding Accessors   215 Inheriting and Overriding Observers   217 Summary   221 Q&A   221 Workshop   222 Exercise   222 HOUR 15: Adding Advanced Type Functionality   223 Type Properties and Methods   223 Type Aliasing   229 Type Access Control   230 Subscripts   231 Type Casting and Non-Specific Types   235 Summary   239 Q&A   239 Workshop   240 Exercise   241 HOUR 16: Understanding Memory Allocation and References   243 Deinitialization   243 Automatic Reference Counting   247 Summary   259 Q&A   260 Workshop   261 Exercise   261 HOUR 17: Using Protocols to Define Behavior   263 Defining Protocols   263 Creating and Adopting Protocols   264 Properties   265 Defining Methods in Protocols   266 Using Protocol Names as Types   268 Adopting and Inheriting Multiple Protocols   269 Optional Protocol Properties and Methods   273 How to Check for Protocol Conformance   275 Using Protocols for Delegation   275 Summary   280 Q&A   281 Workshop   282 Exercise   282 HOUR 18: Using Extensions to Add Type Functionality   285 Defining Extensions   285 Adding Functionality with Extensions   287 Summary   297 Q&A   297 Workshop   298 Exercise   298 HOUR 19: Working with Optional Chaining   301 Defining Optional Chaining   301 Chaining Optional Properties   302 Subscripts   303 Methods   308 Summary   310 Q&A   311 Workshop   311 Exercise   312 HOUR 20: Introducing Generics   313 An Introduction to Generics   313 Type Parameters and Placeholder Types   314 Specifying Type Constraints   315 Creating Generic Types   319 Extending Generic Types   322 Using Associated Types in Protocols   323 Summary   325 Q&A   326 Workshop   326 Exercise   327 HOUR 21: Adding Interoperability with Objective-C   329 Objective-C Basics   329 Bridging   335 Integrating Swift into an Objective-C App   337 Summary   346 Q&A   347 Workshop   348 Exercise   348 HOUR 22: Interacting with User Interfaces   351 Interface Introduction   351 Interface Definitions   352 Building an Interface   353 Creating Your Own Project   355 Adding UI Elements   355 Summary   369 Q&A   370 Workshop   370 Exercise   371 HOUR 23: Asynchronous Programming in Swift   373 The Problem That Concurrency Solves   373 Different Types of Queues   374 Asynchronous Programming in Action   376 Add iTunes Search to Songs App   380 Parsing JSON   383 Summary   390 Q&A   390 Workshop   391 Exercise   392 HOUR 24: Learning Swift’s Standard Library Functions   393 What Is a Standard Library?    393 Numeric Types   394 String Type   394 Protocols   395 Functional Functions   399 Global Functions   401 Summary   404 Q&A   405 Workshop   405 Exercise   406 Index   409

About the Author :
BJ Miller is an iOS developer for a consultancy in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. BJ earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Baldwin-Wallace College (now called Baldwin-Wallace University) in Berea, Ohio, the town where he grew up. His latest career path encompasses large-scale enterprise network administration, SQL database administration, and Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft Project Server administration and integration as a contractor for the United States Department of Defense, with all the Microsoft certifications that come along with that. Before that, he spent several years in LAN engineering, designing and implementing network infrastructure, as a Cisco Certified Network Associate. BJ began iOS development in 2009 after not having programmed for a few years, and he developed a passion for the platform and the Objective-C language. Now, his love has expanded to include Swift, and there is still yet room in his heart for more. In 2013 he released his first app into the iOS App Store, called MyPrayerMap, as a simple tool for managing prayer requests. When he is not writing in Objective-C or Swift for either work or this book, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two boys, reading, listening to music or podcasts, and playing The Legend of Zelda (any game on any system will do). He also co-organizes the Cleveland CocoaHeads Meetup with Daniel Steinberg, http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-CocoaHeads/, and organizes a submeetup of that group called Paired Programming Fun, which is a casual meetup where the focus is on Test-Driven Development (TDD) in Swift and Objective-C in paired-programming style. BJ often presents iOS-related topics at CocoaHeads and also speaks at other conferences such as CocoaConf (Columbus, Ohio) and CodeMash v2.0.1.5. He also blogs from time to time at http://bjmiller.me and is on Twitter as @bjmillerltd.