https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/Functions.html
In-Out Parameters
Function parameters are constants by default. Trying to change the value of a function parameter from within the body of that function results in a compile-time error. This means that you can’t change the value of a parameter by mistake. If you want a function to modify a parameter’s value, and you want those changes to persist after the function call has ended, define that parameter as an in-out parameter instead.
You write an in-out parameter by placing the inout keyword right before a parameter’s type. An in-out parameter has a value that is passed in to the function, is modified by the function, and is passed back out of the function to replace the original value. For a detailed discussion of the behavior of in-out parameters and associated compiler optimizations, see In-Out Parameters.
You can only pass a variable as the argument for an in-out parameter. You cannot pass a constant or a literal value as the argument, because constants and literals cannot be modified. You place an ampersand (&) directly before a variable’s name when you pass it as an argument to an in-out parameter, to indicate that it can be modified by the function.
NOTE
In-out parameters cannot have default values, and variadic parameters cannot be marked as inout.
Here’s an example of a function called swapTwoInts(::), which has two in-out integer parameters called a and b:
func swapTwoInts(_ a: inout Int, _ b: inout Int) {
let temporaryA = a
a = b
b = temporaryA
}
The swapTwoInts(::) function simply swaps the value of b into a, and the value of a into b. The function performs this swap by storing the value of a in a temporary constant called temporaryA, assigning the value of b to a, and then assigning temporaryA to b.
You can call the swapTwoInts(::) function with two variables of type Int to swap their values. Note that the names of someInt and anotherInt are prefixed with an ampersand when they are passed to the swapTwoInts(::) function:
var someInt = 3
var anotherInt = 107
swapTwoInts(&someInt, &anotherInt)
print("someInt is now \(someInt), and anotherInt is now \(anotherInt)")
// Prints "someInt is now 107, and anotherInt is now 3"
The example above shows that the original values of someInt and anotherInt are modified by the swapTwoInts(::) function, even though they were originally defined outside of the function.
NOTE
In-out parameters are not the same as returning a value from a function. The swapTwoInts example above does not define a return type or return a value, but it still modifies the values of someInt and anotherInt. In-out parameters are an alternative way for a function to have an effect outside of the scope of its function body.
public func getQuestionList(inout language: String) -> NSArray
– HairwormgetQuestion
to have any side effects. – Delatefunc foo(_ bar: int) { /*use bar*/ bar+=1; foo(bar); }
. This is impossible without var params. You either need to create a separate var within the function and copy the value, or mark the param as inout. The former is slow, the latter causes undefined behaviour. Many algorithms use recursion like this. – Leivafoo(bar + 1)
? – Albersbar
is not an int but a complex object? – Leiva