what is discard keyword in swift?
Asked on 08/08/2024
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The discard keyword in Swift is used to destroy an object without calling its deinitializer. This can be useful in scenarios where you want to ensure that an object is destroyed but do not want the deinitializer to execute any cleanup code.
For example, in the session Consume noncopyable types in Swift, it is mentioned that you can write discard self to destroy an object without calling the deinitializer. This is particularly useful in precise ownership tracking scenarios where you want to avoid certain side effects that might be triggered by the deinitializer.
Here is the relevant segment from the session:
"Since the end of my run method will also automatically destroy self, I'll write discard self there, that will destroy it, but without calling the D init."
This feature is part of Swift's advanced memory management and ownership system, which aims to provide more control and safety in handling resources.
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