Subclassing NSObject in Swift - Best Practice with Initializers

Question

Here is the layout of an example Class, can someone guide me on what's best practice when creating a subclass of NSObject?

class MyClass: NSObject {

    var someProperty: NSString! = nil

    override init() {
        self.someProperty = "John"
        super.init()
    }

    init(fromString string: NSString) {
        self.someProperty = string
        super.init()
    }

}

Is this correct, am I following best practice here?

I wonder if I'm correctly setting up the initializers (one that sets the string to a default, and one which I can pass in a string)?

Should I call super.init() at the end of each of the initializers?

Should my more specific (the one that takes a string) initializer simply call self.init() at the end rather than super.init()?

What is the right way to set up the initializers in Swift when subclassing NSObject? - and how should I call the super init ?

This question (albeit in Objective C) suggests you should have an init, which you always call and simply set the properties in more specific inits: Objective-C Multiple Initialisers

The Swift Programming Language has an entire chapter on initialization, covering inheritance, designated vs. convenience initializers, and so on. The process is significantly different than Objective-C (and to me feels more complex/nuanced), so definitely read that to understand better what to do. — Nate Cook

Maxim Shoustin Maxim Shoustin · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-16T22:36:57

I'm not Swift ninja but I would write MyClass as:

class MyClass: NSObject {
    
    var someProperty: NSString // no need (!). It will be initialised from controller 
    
    init(fromString string: NSString) {
        self.someProperty = string
        super.init() // can actually be omitted in this example because will happen automatically.
    }
    
    convenience override init() {
        self.init(fromString:"John") // calls above mentioned controller with default name
    }        
}

See the initialization section of the documentation

Subclassing NSObject in Swift - Best Practice with Initializers

3 Answers