Swift For Dummies

Chapter 12

Initializing and Deinitializing Data

In This Chapter

Understanding the reasons for initialization

Initializing properties and variables

Creating initializers and adding parameters

Observing changes to properties

Deinitializing properties and variables

In Swift, every instance of a class, structure, or enumeration must be initialized before being used. Accordingly, Swift gives you several ways to create various types of initializers to handle the process. You can also perform the initialization yourself by setting an initial or default value, which initializes the instance. In addition, many parts of the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks handle initialization for you.

For example, if you use Interface Builder to design your interface in Xcode, you can draw views and other interface elements on the Xcode canvas. At runtime, the framework instantiates the views and other interface elements that you have drawn, and in the process, it initializes them.

As another example, consider ...