What are optional types in Swift and how do I use them?

What are optional types in Swift and how do I use them?

Optional types in Swift are a way to indicate that a variable can hold a value or be nil. You use a question mark (?) to declare an optional.

Can you give me an example of how to declare and use an optional?

Sure! You can declare an optional like this: var name: String?. To assign a value, you can do name = "Alice", and to check if it has a value, you can use if let.

What happens if I try to access an optional that is nil?

If you try to access an optional that is nil without unwrapping it, your app will crash. Always safely unwrap optionals!

How do I safely unwrap an optional?

You can safely unwrap an optional using if let or guard let. This way, you can check if it has a value before using it.