How to append one array to another array

Swift version: 5.4

Paul Hudson    @twostraws    September 19th 2019

There are three ways of adding one array to another, and you can use whichever syntax you prefer.

First, make a couple of test arrays to work with:

var first = ["John", "Paul"]
let second = ["George", "Ringo"]

Note: I made the first array mutable so we can join the second array to it.

One option for joining arrays is the append(contentsOf:) method, used like this:

first.append(contentsOf: second)

Another option is using the += operator, which is overloaded for arrays to combine elements:

first += second

The third option is to use a regular + to create a new array by combining two others:

let third = first + second

All three options produce the same resulting array, albeit with different approaches.

SPONSORED Join a FREE crash course for iOS devs who want to become complete senior developers — from October 18th to 24th. Learn how to apply iOS app architecture patterns through a series of lectures and practical coding sessions.

Learn more

Sponsor Hacking with Swift and reach the world's largest Swift community!

Available from iOS – learn more in my book Pro Swift

Similar solutions…

• How to make one sprite draw in front of another using zPosition
• How to force one gesture to recognize before another using highPriorityGesture()
• How to make one operation wait for another to complete using addDependency()
• How to synchronize animations from one view to another with matchedGeometryEffect()
• How to mask one view with another

About the Swift Knowledge Base

This is part of the Swift Knowledge Base, a free, searchable collection of solutions for common iOS questions.