What is the @objc attribute?
By default Swift generates code that is only available to other Swift code, but if you need to interact with the Objective-C runtime – all of UIKit, for example – you need to tell Swift what to do.
That’s where the @objc attribute comes in: when you apply it to a class or method it instructs Swift to make those things available to Objective-C as well as Swift code. So, any time you want to call a method from a UIBarButtonItem or a Timer, you’ll need to mark that method using @objc so it’s exposed – both of those, and many others, are Objective-C code.
Don’t worry: if you forget to add @objc when it’s needed, your code simply won’t compile – it’s not something you can forget by accident and introduce a bug.
To expose a method to Objective-C, just write @objc before its name like this:
class MyController: UIViewController {
@objc func authenticateUser() {
}
}That whole class is automatically Objective-C friendly because it inherits from UIViewController, but if you need it you can also explicitly make a class open to Objective-C by marking it @objc.
Available from iOS 8.0
Did this solution work for you? Please pass it on!
Other people are reading…
- How to convert a string to a double
- How to list all cases in an enum using CaseIterable
- What is function composition?
- What’s the difference between Any and AnyObject?
- What is Automatic Reference Counting (ARC)?
About the Swift Knowledge Base
This is part of the Swift Knowledge Base, a free, searchable collection of solutions for common iOS questions.
