Simple and clean way to convert JSON string to Object in Swift

for swift 3/4

extension String {
    func toJSON() -> Any? {
        guard let data = self.data(using: .utf8, allowLossyConversion: false) else { return nil }
        return try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .mutableContainers)
    }
}

Example Usage:

 let dict = myString.toJSON() as? [String:AnyObject] // can be any type here

Here are some tips how to begin with simple example.

Consider you have following JSON Array String (similar to yours) like:

 var list:Array<Business> = []

  // left only 2 fields for demo
  struct Business {
    var id : Int = 0
    var name = ""               
 }

 var jsonStringAsArray = "[\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":72,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Batata Cremosa\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":183,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Caldeirada de Peixes\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":76,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Batata com Cebola e Ervas\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":56,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Arroz de forma\",\n" +            
    "}]"


        // convert String to NSData
        var data: NSData = jsonStringAsArray.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding)!
        var error: NSError?

        // convert NSData to 'AnyObject'
        let anyObj: AnyObject? = NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(data, options: NSJSONReadingOptions(0),
            error: &error)
        println("Error: \(error)")

     // convert 'AnyObject' to Array<Business>
     list = self.parseJson(anyObj!)

     //===============

    func parseJson(anyObj:AnyObject) -> Array<Business>{

        var list:Array<Business> = []

         if  anyObj is Array<AnyObject> {

            var b:Business = Business()

            for json in anyObj as Array<AnyObject>{
             b.name = (json["name"] as AnyObject? as? String) ?? "" // to get rid of null
             b.id  =  (json["id"]  as AnyObject? as? Int) ?? 0                 

               list.append(b)
            }// for

        } // if

      return list

    }//func    

[EDIT]

To get rid of null changed to:

b.name = (json["name"] as AnyObject? as? String) ?? ""
b.id  =  (json["id"]  as AnyObject? as? Int) ?? 0 

See also Reference of Coalescing Operator (aka ??)

Hope it will help you to sort things out,

As simple String extension should suffice:

extension String {

    var parseJSONString: AnyObject? {

        let data = self.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding, allowLossyConversion: false)

        if let jsonData = data {
            // Will return an object or nil if JSON decoding fails
            return NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(jsonData, options: NSJSONReadingOptions.MutableContainers, error: nil)
        } else {
            // Lossless conversion of the string was not possible
            return nil
        }
    }
}

Then:

var jsonString = "[\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":72,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata Cremosa\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":183,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Caldeirada de Peixes\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":76,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata com Cebola e Ervas\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":56,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Arroz de forma\",\n" +            
"}]"

let json: AnyObject? = jsonString.parseJSONString
println("Parsed JSON: \(json!)")
println("json[3]: \(json![3])")

/* Output:

Parsed JSON: (
    {
    id = 72;
    name = "Batata Cremosa";
    },
    {
    id = 183;
    name = "Caldeirada de Peixes";
    },
    {
    id = 76;
    name = "Batata com Cebola e Ervas";
    },
    {
    id = 56;
    name = "Arroz de forma";
    }
)

json[3]: {
    id = 56;
    name = "Arroz de forma";
}
*/