Separating CamelCase string into space-separated words

Question

I would like to separate a CamelCase string into space-separated words in a new string. Here is what I have so far:

var camelCaps: String {
    guard self.count > 0 else { return self }
    var newString: String = ""

    let uppercase = CharacterSet.uppercaseLetters
    let first = self.unicodeScalars.first!
    newString.append(Character(first))
    for scalar in self.unicodeScalars.dropFirst() {
        if uppercase.contains(scalar) {
            newString.append(" ")
        }
        let character = Character(scalar)
        newString.append(character)
    }

    return newString
}

let aCamelCaps = "aCamelCaps"
let camelCapped = aCamelCaps.camelCaps // Produce: "a Camel Caps"

let anotherCamelCaps = "ÄnotherCamelCaps"
let anotherCamelCapped = anotherCamelCaps.camelCaps // "Änother Camel Caps"

I'm inclined to suspect that this may not be the most efficient way to convert to space-separated words, if I call it in a tight loop, or 1000's of times. Are there more efficient ways to do this in Swift?

[Edit 1:] The solution I require should remain general for Unicode scalars, not specific to Roman ASCII "A..Z".

[Edit 2:] The solution should also skip the first letter, i.e. not prepend a space before the first letter.

[Edit 3:] Updated for Swift 4 syntax, and added caching of uppercaseLetters, which improves performance in very long strings and tight loops.

Answer 1

As far as I tested on my old MacBook, your code seems to be efficient enough for short strings:

import Foundation

extension String {

    var camelCaps: String {
        var newString: String = ""

        let upperCase = CharacterSet.uppercaseLetters
        for scalar in self.unicodeScalars {
            if upperCase.contains(scalar) {
                newString.append(" ")
            }
            let character = Character(scalar)
            newString.append(character)
        }

        return newString
    }

    var camelCaps2: String {
        var newString: String = ""

        let upperCase = CharacterSet.uppercaseLetters
        var range = self.startIndex..<self.endIndex
        while let foundRange = self.rangeOfCharacter(from: upperCase,range: range) {
            newString += self.substring(with: range.lowerBound..<foundRange.lowerBound)
            newString += " "
            newString += self.substring(with: foundRange)

            range = foundRange.upperBound..<self.endIndex
        }
        newString += self.substring(with: range)

        return newString
    }

    var camelCaps3: String {
        struct My {
            static let regex = try! NSRegularExpression(pattern: "[A-Z]")
        }
        return My.regex.stringByReplacingMatches(in: self, range: NSRange(0..<self.utf16.count), withTemplate: " $0")
    }
}
let aCamelCaps = "aCamelCaps"

assert(aCamelCaps.camelCaps == aCamelCaps.camelCaps2)
assert(aCamelCaps.camelCaps == aCamelCaps.camelCaps3)

let t0 = Date().timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate

for _ in 0..<1_000_000 {
    let aCamelCaps = "aCamelCaps"

    let camelCapped = aCamelCaps.camelCaps
}

let t1 = Date().timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
print(t1-t0) //->4.78703999519348

for _ in 0..<1_000_000 {
    let aCamelCaps = "aCamelCaps"

    let camelCapped = aCamelCaps.camelCaps2
}

let t2 = Date().timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
print(t2-t1) //->10.5831440091133

for _ in 0..<1_000_000 {
    let aCamelCaps = "aCamelCaps"

    let camelCapped = aCamelCaps.camelCaps3
}

let t3 = Date().timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
print(t3-t2) //->14.2085000276566

(Do not try to test the code above in the Playground. The numbers are taken from a single trial executed as a CommandLine app.)