Kodebits Day 27: Optional Chaining

What does this print?

let names: [String]? = ["Al"]
let count = names?.count
print(count ?? 0)
print(type(of: count))

Try it in the online Swift Playground →

[spoiler title="Solution"]

Answer:

1
Optional<Int>

Explanation:

Optional chaining on `names?.count` returns `Optional`, not `Int`. The nil-coalescing operator unwraps it for printing.

[/spoiler]

Further Reading

• Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming
• Swift Apprentice: Fundamentals