Check if optional array is empty

Extension Property on the Collection Protocol

*Written in Swift 3

extension Optional where Wrapped: Collection {
    var isNilOrEmpty: Bool {
        switch self {
            case .some(let collection):
                return collection.isEmpty
            case .none:
                return true
        }
    }
}

Example Use:

if array.isNilOrEmpty {
    print("The array is nil or empty")
}

 

Other Options

Other than the extension above, I find the following option most clear without force unwrapping optionals. I read this as unwrapping the optional array and if nil, substituting an empty array of the same type. Then, taking the (non-optional) result of that and if it isEmpty execute the conditional code.

Recommended

if (array ?? []).isEmpty {
    print("The array is nil or empty")
}

Though the following reads clearly, I suggest a habit of avoiding force unwrapping optionals whenever possible. Though you are guaranteed that array will never be nil when array!.isEmpty is executed in this specific case, it would be easy to edit it later and inadvertently introduce a crash. When you become comfortable force unwrapping optionals, you increase the chance that someone will make a change in the future that compiles but crashes at runtime.

Not Recommended!

if array == nil || array!.isEmpty {
    print("The array is nil or empty")
}

I find options that include array? (optional chaining) confusing such as:

Confusing?

if !(array?.isEmpty == false) {
    print("The array is nil or empty")
}

if array?.isEmpty ?? true {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Updated answer for Swift 3 and above:

Swift 3 has removed the ability to compare optionals with > and <, so some parts of the previous answer are no longer valid.

It is still possible to compare optionals with ==, so the most straightforward way to check if an optional array contains values is:

if array?.isEmpty == false {
    print("There are objects!")
}

Other ways it can be done:

if array?.count ?? 0 > 0 {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if !(array?.isEmpty ?? true) {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if array != nil && !array!.isEmpty {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if array != nil && array!.count > 0 {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if !(array ?? []).isEmpty {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if (array ?? []).count > 0 {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if let array = array, array.count > 0 {
    print("There are objects!")
}

if let array = array, !array.isEmpty {
    print("There are objects!")
}

If you want to do something when the array is nil or is empty, you have at least 6 choices:

Option A:

if !(array?.isEmpty == false) {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option B:

if array == nil || array!.count == 0 {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option C:

if array == nil || array!.isEmpty {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option D:

if (array ?? []).isEmpty {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option E:

if array?.isEmpty ?? true {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option F:

if (array?.count ?? 0) == 0 {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option C exactly captures how you described it in English: "I want to do something special only when it is nil or empty." I would recommend that you use this since it is easy to understand. There is nothing wrong with this, especially since it will "short circuit" and skip the check for empty if the variable is nil.

Previous answer for Swift 2.x:

You can simply do:

if array?.count > 0 {
    print("There are objects")
} else {
    print("No objects")
}

As @Martin points out in the comments, it uses func ><T : _Comparable>(lhs: T?, rhs: T?) -> Bool which means that the compiler wraps 0 as an Int? so that the comparison can be made with the left hand side which is an Int? because of the optional chaining call.

In a similar way, you could do:

if array?.isEmpty == false {
    print("There are objects")
} else {
    print("No objects")
}

Note: You have to explicitly compare with false here for this to work.

If you want to do something when the array is nil or is empty, you have at least 7 choices:

Option A:

if !(array?.count > 0) {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option B:

if !(array?.isEmpty == false) {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option C:

if array == nil || array!.count == 0 {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option D:

if array == nil || array!.isEmpty {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option E:

if (array ?? []).isEmpty {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option F:

if array?.isEmpty ?? true {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option G:

if (array?.count ?? 0) == 0 {
    print("There are no objects")
}

Option D exactly captures how you described it in English: "I want to do something special only when it is nil or empty." I would recommend that you use this since it is easy to understand. There is nothing wrong with this, especially since it will "short circuit" and skip the check for empty if the variable is nil.


Option D: If the array doesn't need to be optional, because you only really care if it's empty or not, initialise it as an empty array instead of an optional:

var array = [Int]()

Now it will always exist, and you can simply check for isEmpty.


Swift extension:

extension Optional where Wrapped: Collection {
    var nilIfEmpty: Optional {
        switch self {
        case .some(let collection):
            return collection.isEmpty ? nil : collection
        default:
            return nil
        }
    }

    var isNilOrEmpty: Bool {
        switch self {
        case .some(let collection):
            return collection.isEmpty
        case .none:
            return true
    }
}

Usage:

guard let array = myObject?.array.nilIfEmpty else { return }

or:

if myObject.array.isNilOrEmpty {
    // Do stuff here
}

Tags:

Arrays

Ios

Swift

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