CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosswiftoption-type
Daniel Creagh
Daniel Creagh

Reputation: 502

Is it safe to use inline if statements with optional values

Is it a good idea to use inline if statements on optional values when not changing the value itself: -

var optionalValue:[Int]?
var isOptionalValueCount = 0

optionalValue = [4, 5, 6]

if let value = optionalValue {
    isOptionalValueCount = value.count
}

println("amount of integers (using usual syntax): \(isOptionalValueCount)")
// "amount of integers (using usual syntax): 3"

isOptionalValueCount = optionalValue != nil ? optionalValue!.count : 0

println("amount of integers (using inline): \(isOptionalValueCount)")
// "amount of integers (using inline): 3"

This makes the code more succinct, however we still have the "!" when calculating the optionalValue.count- to me this seems like a bad code smell.

What are the disadvantages of using the inline if statement to deal with optionals like this?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 746

Answers (1)

Antonio
Antonio

Reputation: 72750

I don't see any disadvantage, beside not looking good in my opinion, so I'd prefer the optional binding. However I think you can rewrite that as:

isOptionalValueCount = optionalValue?.count ?? 0

If optionalValue is nil, then the left expression evaluates to nil, and the nil coalescing operator returns the expression at right.

Upvotes: 3

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