Optionals are used when a value cannot be set. Think of optionals as a container that can take either a value or nil. This gives us the ability to check whether the value is nil or not. In order to create an optional value, you will have to give it a data type followed by a question mark (?). Before we do that, let's create a string that is not an optional. Add the following to Playgrounds:
Now, let's add an optional to Playgrounds:
In this example, we created a string optional, and, if you notice in the Results panel, it is nil. But for our notAnOptional, we see This is not an optional. Now, on the next line, let's set optional equal to This is an optional:
In our Results panel, we see This is an optional. Let's now print both strNotAnOptional and strOptional, as you will see a difference between the two:
Note that our notAnOptional variable looks fine, but optional has an optional wrapped ("") around the String. This means that, in order for us to access the...