Swift Quick Syntax Reference

Chapter    37

Type Methods

In Chapter 31, you coded a function for the Person class named profile(). Class functions are also known as methods, and in Chapter 31 you coded an instance method. Instance methods require a type instance.

In contrast, type methods are functions that require the type (class, enumeration, or structure) to work. To declare a type method for a class, you must use the class keyword (see Listing 37-1).

Listing 37-1. Declaring Type Methods

class Person {    class var species:String{        return "Homo sapiens"    }    class func printDescription() {        println("The Person class defines the structure to represent an                individual of the species \(species).")    }    var name: String = "Name"    var age:Int ...