How do I concatenate or merge arrays in Swift?

With Swift 5, according to your needs, you may choose one of the six following ways to concatenate/merge two arrays.

#1. Merge two arrays into a new array with Array's +(_:_:) generic operator

Array has a +(_:_:) generic operator. +(_:_:) has the following declaration:

Creates a new collection by concatenating the elements of a collection and a sequence.

static func + <Other>(lhs: Array<Element>, rhs: Other) -> Array<Element> where Other : Sequence, Self.Element == Other.Element

The following Playground sample code shows how to merge two arrays of type [Int] into a new array using +(_:_:) generic operator:

let array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

let flattenArray = array1 + array2
print(flattenArray) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

#2. Append the elements of an array into an existing array with Array's +=(_:_:) generic operator

Array has a +=(_:_:) generic operator. +=(_:_:) has the following declaration:

Appends the elements of a sequence to a range-replaceable collection.

static func += <Other>(lhs: inout Array<Element>, rhs: Other) where Other : Sequence, Self.Element == Other.Element

The following Playground sample code shows how to append the elements of an array of type [Int] into an existing array using +=(_:_:) generic operator:

var array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

array1 += array2
print(array1) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

#3. Append an array to another array with Array's append(contentsOf:) method

Swift Array has an append(contentsOf:) method. append(contentsOf:) has the following declaration:

Adds the elements of a sequence or collection to the end of this collection.

mutating func append<S>(contentsOf newElements: S) where S : Sequence, Self.Element == S.Element

The following Playground sample code shows how to append an array to another array of type [Int] using append(contentsOf:) method:

var array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

array1.append(contentsOf: array2)
print(array1) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

#4. Merge two arrays into a new array with Sequence's flatMap(_:) method

Swift provides a flatMap(_:) method for all types that conform to Sequence protocol (including Array). flatMap(_:) has the following declaration:

Returns an array containing the concatenated results of calling the given transformation with each element of this sequence.

func flatMap<SegmentOfResult>(_ transform: (Self.Element) throws -> SegmentOfResult) rethrows -> [SegmentOfResult.Element] where SegmentOfResult : Sequence

The following Playground sample code shows how to merge two arrays of type [Int] into a new array using flatMap(_:) method:

let array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

let flattenArray = [array1, array2].flatMap({ (element: [Int]) -> [Int] in
    return element
})
print(flattenArray) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

#5. Merge two arrays into a new array with Sequence's joined() method and Array's init(_:) initializer

Swift provides a joined() method for all types that conform to Sequence protocol (including Array). joined() has the following declaration:

Returns the elements of this sequence of sequences, concatenated.

func joined() -> FlattenSequence<Self>

Besides, Swift Array has a init(_:) initializer. init(_:) has the following declaration:

Creates an array containing the elements of a sequence.

init<S>(_ s: S) where Element == S.Element, S : Sequence

Therefore, the following Playground sample code shows how to merge two arrays of type [Int] into a new array using joined() method and init(_:) initializer:

let array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

let flattenCollection = [array1, array2].joined() // type: FlattenBidirectionalCollection<[Array<Int>]>
let flattenArray = Array(flattenCollection)
print(flattenArray) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

#6. Merge two arrays into a new array with Array's reduce(_:_:) method

Swift Array has a reduce(_:_:) method. reduce(_:_:) has the following declaration:

Returns the result of combining the elements of the sequence using the given closure.

func reduce<Result>(_ initialResult: Result, _ nextPartialResult: (Result, Element) throws -> Result) rethrows -> Result

The following Playground code shows how to merge two arrays of type [Int] into a new array using reduce(_:_:) method:

let array1 = [1, 2, 3]
let array2 = [4, 5, 6]

let flattenArray = [array1, array2].reduce([], { (result: [Int], element: [Int]) -> [Int] in
    return result + element
})
print(flattenArray) // prints [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

If you are not a big fan of operator overloading, or just more of a functional type:

// use flatMap
let result = [
    ["merge", "me"], 
    ["We", "shall", "unite"],
    ["magic"]
].flatMap { $0 }
// Output: ["merge", "me", "We", "shall", "unite", "magic"]

// ... or reduce
[[1],[2],[3]].reduce([], +)
// Output: [1, 2, 3]

You can concatenate the arrays with +, building a new array 

let c = a + b
print(c) // [1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0]

or append one array to the other with += (or append):

a += b

// Or:
a.append(contentsOf: b)  // Swift 3
a.appendContentsOf(b)    // Swift 2
a.extend(b)              // Swift 1.2

print(a) // [1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0]

Tags:

Arrays

Merge

Swift

Recent Posts