How to set the action for a UIBarButtonItem in Swift

As of Swift 2.2, there is a special syntax for compiler-time checked selectors. It uses the syntax: #selector(methodName).

Swift 3 and later:

var b = UIBarButtonItem(
    title: "Continue",
    style: .plain,
    target: self,
    action: #selector(sayHello(sender:))
)

func sayHello(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
}

If you are unsure what the method name should look like, there is a special version of the copy command that is very helpful. Put your cursor somewhere in the base method name (e.g. sayHello) and press Shift+Control+Option+C. That puts the ‘Symbol Name’ on your keyboard to be pasted. If you also hold Command it will copy the ‘Qualified Symbol Name’ which will include the type as well.

Swift 2.3:

var b = UIBarButtonItem(
    title: "Continue",
    style: .Plain,
    target: self,
    action: #selector(sayHello(_:))
)

func sayHello(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
}

This is because the first parameter name is not required in Swift 2.3 when making a method call.

You can learn more about the syntax on swift.org here: https://swift.org/blog/swift-2-2-new-features/#compile-time-checked-selectors

Swift 4/5 example

button.target = self
button.action = #selector(buttonClicked(sender:))

@objc func buttonClicked(sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
        
}