swift Unary operator '++' cannot be applied to an operand of type 'Int!'

Question

In the section Basic Operators, the Swift Programming Language guide states that ++ is a valid operator:

“More complex examples include the logical AND operator && (as in if enteredDoorCode && passedRetinaScan) and the increment operator ++i, which is a shortcut to increase the value of i by 1.” Excerpt From: Apple Inc. “The Swift Programming Language.” iBooks. https://itun.es/gb/jEUH0.l

However, when attempting this in a playground:

class Levels {
    var data = [
        [
            "nodesNum" : 20,
            "lastLevel" : false
        ],
        [
            "nodesNum" : 16,
            "lastLevel" : false
        ],
        [
            "nodesNum" : 13,
            "lastLevel" : false
        ],
        [
            "nodesNum" : 10,
            "lastLevel" : false
        ],
        [
            "nodesNum" : 8,
            "lastLevel" : true
        ]
    ]
}

var levels: Levels!
var availableNodesNum: Int!
var currentLevelData: NSDictionary!
var levelNum:Int = 2

levels = Levels()

currentLevelData = levels.data[levelNum]
availableNodesNum = Int(currentLevelData["nodesNum"]! as! NSNumber)

println(currentLevelData)
println(availableNodesNum)

availableNodesNum++

A build error shows:

swift Unary operator '++' cannot be applied to an operand of type 'Int!'

Why? Thnx for all your help

Answer 1

you should unwrap it first

availableNodesNum!++

because in the standard library ++ is only defined for non-optionals as a prefix and postfix operator.

prefix public func ++(inout x: UInt8) -> UInt8

prefix public func ++(inout rhs: Float80) -> Float80

postfix public func ++(inout lhs: Double) -> Double

postfix public func ++(inout lhs: Float) -> Float

prefix public func ++(inout rhs: Float) -> Float

postfix public func ++(inout x: Int) -> Int

prefix public func ++(inout x: Int) -> Int

postfix public func ++(inout x: UInt) -> UInt

prefix public func ++(inout x: UInt) -> UInt

/// Replace `i` with its `successor()` and return the original
/// value of `i`.
postfix public func ++<T : _Incrementable>(inout i: T) -> T

postfix public func ++(inout x: Int64) -> Int64

prefix public func ++(inout x: Int64) -> Int64

postfix public func ++(inout x: UInt64) -> UInt64

prefix public func ++(inout x: UInt64) -> UInt64

/// Replace `i` with its `successor()` and return the updated value of
/// `i`.
prefix public func ++<T : _Incrementable>(inout i: T) -> T

postfix public func ++(inout x: Int32) -> Int32

prefix public func ++(inout x: Int32) -> Int32

postfix public func ++(inout x: UInt32) -> UInt32

postfix public func ++(inout lhs: Float80) -> Float80

prefix public func ++(inout x: UInt32) -> UInt32

postfix public func ++(inout x: Int16) -> Int16

prefix public func ++(inout x: Int16) -> Int16

postfix public func ++(inout x: UInt16) -> UInt16

prefix public func ++(inout x: UInt16) -> UInt16

postfix public func ++(inout x: Int8) -> Int8

prefix public func ++(inout x: Int8) -> Int8

postfix public func ++(inout x: UInt8) -> UInt8

prefix public func ++(inout rhs: Double) -> Double

& bear in mind that according to the documentation :

An implicitly unwrapped optional is a normal optional behind the scenes

You'll get the same error if you use unary operator with an optional

var a : Int? = 12
a++ //Unary operator '++' cannot be applied to an operand of type 'Int?'