Swift: how to return class type from function

Question

I know it is possible to pass class type to a function in swift:

func setGeneric(type: T.Type){ }
setGeneric(Int.self)

But how we can

Answer 1

You can force the downcast (as!) as below

func getGeneric<T>() -> T.Type {
  return Int.self as! T.Type
} 

But out of the function scope, you need to indicate the returned type:

var t:Int.Type = getGeneric()

Answer 2

It works when I modify your function like this:

func getGeneric<T>(object: T) -> T.Type {
    return T.self
}

getGeneric(0)    // Swift.Int

Answer 3

You can return any type you want.

func getTypeOfInt()  -> Int.Type  { return Int.self  }
func getTypeOfBool() -> Bool.Type { return Bool.self }

If the type is not determined from arguments or if the return is constant, there is no need to introduce a generic T type.

Answer 4

Yes, this is possible. The problem here is that you say your function returns a generic T.type, but you always return Int.type. Since T is not always an Int, the compiler raises an error.