associatedtype y protocolos genéricos

¿Por qué usar tipos asociados?

Protocolo con associatedtype

protocol Container {
    associatedtype Item
    mutating func append(_ item: Item)
    var count: Int { get }
    subscript(index: Int) -> Item { get }
}

Conformidad concreta

struct IntStack: Container {
    // Binds Item == Int implicitly by usage
    private var items: [Int] = []
    mutating func append(_ item: Int) { items.append(item) }
    var count: Int { items.count }
    subscript(index: Int) -> Int { items[index] }
}
var st = IntStack()
st.append(10); st.append(20)
print(st.count, st[1])

Tipo genérico conforme

struct Stack<Element>: Container {
    private var items: [Element] = []
    mutating func append(_ item: Element) { items.append(item) }
    var count: Int { items.count }
    subscript(index: Int) -> Element { items[index] }
    // Here, associatedtype Item == Element
}
var s = Stack<String>()
s.append("hi"); s.append("bye")
print(s.count, s[1])

Usar el protocolo en genéricos

// Generic algorithm operating on any Container
func dumpFirstTwo<C: Container>(_ c: C) {
    // We can talk about C.Item but not assume concrete type
    if c.count >= 2 {
        print("0:", c[0])
        print("1:", c[1])
    } else {
        print("too few elements")
    }
}
dumpFirstTwo(s)    // works with Stack<String>
dumpFirstTwo(st)   // works with IntStack

Notas y consejos

Significado de associatedtype

Resumen