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iOS Swift Enums and Structs Enums and their Methods Methods or Member Functions

Anthony Babich
Anthony Babich
5,505 Points

Function vs Method, and miscommunication in videos/tests.

Here is the test question I am referring to, followed by the code:

"Modify the isGreater function to only accept one parameter. Keep the newValue parameter and remove the currentValue parameter because you can retrieve the existing value using the keyword self."

enum Coin: Int {
    case Penny = 1, Nickel = 5, Dime = 10, Quarter = 25 

    func isGreater(currentValue: Coin, newValue: Coin) -> Bool {
        return currentValue.rawValue > newValue.rawValue
    }
}

Shouldn't the question really be telling me to modify the isGreater method? This is a method right?

I see stuff that is backwards like this and it confuses me.

1 Answer

Stepan Ulyanin
Stepan Ulyanin
11,318 Points

Hi, well you can actually use them interchangeably, kind of. As a part of a class it is a common convention to call them methods but they declare them as func (functions), same in objective-c and C++, so there is no unique difference between methods and functions, it is just a good practice to call a function that is a part of a class or a struct/enum a method, but it is not a big mistake to refer to it as functions, sometimes they call them member functions of a class, which implies that methods are meant, hope it helps

Anthony Babich
Anthony Babich
5,505 Points

Thanks for the response.