Dictionary not appending values - ios

Question

I think I'm introducing some logic error and I might be missing something here.
Please consider the following code:
// Model
class MyModel: NSObject {
let month: Int
let destiny: String
init(month: Int, destiny: String) {
self.month = month
self.destiny = destiny
}
}
var datasource: [MyModel] = []
var dict: [Int : [MyModel]] = [:]
func fillDatasource() {
for _ in 0...20 {
let month = Int.random(in: 1...12)
let destiny = "Any"
let model = MyModel(month: month, destiny: destiny)
datasource.append(model)
}
}
func fillDict() {
datasource.forEach {
let month = $0.month
dict[month]?.append($0)
}
print(dict) // always empty
}
fillDatasource()
fillDict()
Inside my fillDict function the array is always nil.
I think this is because the key doesn't exist , so the value cannot be appended to that specific key.
My question is: if the key doesn't exist, calling the append function would insert the key as well?
Am I missing something here?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Your assumption is incorrect and there is no reason to think that this would insert a new array.
It might seem intuitive for this case but it may be very wrong for some cases. How about something like this:
garages[myName]?.parkCar(myCar)
Should this construct a new garage for my car? I think not. But even if so; what if default constructor is unavailable and this is actually defined as a protocol:
protocol Garage {
func parkCar(_ car: Car)
}
var garages[String: Garage]
there is no way for Swift to fill in this object automatically.
Technically there would be a possible solution for this work that Swift would automatically construct an object for you in dictionary if this object had a default constructor and possibly the object type is a struct or a final class... But this would most likely only introduce more confusion than it would solve.
The most straight forward solution to your example is what #Sh_Khan wrote (but later deleted) which is:
if dict[month] == nil {
dict[month] = [$0]
}
else {
dict[month]?.append($0)
}
Probably some more feasible approach would be
dict[month] = (dict[month] ?? []) + [$0]
but as described in a comment there is already a method that does exactly that for you:
dict[month, default: []].append($0)
I hope we can agree that this is a more general approach and it fixes all cases. For instance
garages[myName, default: PublicGarage(parkingSpot: myName)].parkCar(myCar)

Answer 2

You can update your fillDict method to the following:
func fillDict() {
datasource.forEach {
let month = $0.month
if dict.keys.contains(month) {
dict[month]?.append($0)
} else {
dict[month] = [$0]
}
}
print(dict)
}
Explanation:
We need to check if the month key already exits in the dictionary, than append in it's array else we are assigning a new array against a month in the dictionary

Answer 3

Dic is empty because dic[month] is nil, the value has never been altered.
To group array by a property of the array elem, I'd use the following:
dic = Dictionary(grouping: datasource) { (model) -> Int in
return model.month
}