Swift String First Property

String First Property

Apart from the methods, the String structure of Swift language also provides various properties and the first property is one among them. The first property is used to get the first character of the given string. This property returns an optional value, so we have to unwarp its value either by using ! Or if let.

For example, we have a string Tutorials Point, now using the First property we will get the first character of the given string that is T.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the first Property −

var first: Self.Element?{get}

Return Value

This property returns the first character of the given string. If the given string is empty, then this property will return nil.

Example 1

Swift program to demonstrate the first property −

import Foundation

// Declaring a string
var str = "Mohit likes Swift"
print("Original String:", str)

// Getting the first character of the String
// Using first property
let result = str.first!

print("First character of the String:", result)

Output

Original String: Mohit likes Swift
First character of the String: M

Example 2

Swift program to get the first character of the given string using the first property −

import Foundation

// String
var str = "Mona is going to market"
print("Original String:", str)

// Getting the first character
// Using first property
if let output = str.first{
   print("First character =", output)
}

Output

Original String: Mona is going to market
First character = M

Example 3

Swift program to get the first character from the given string −

import Foundation

// Empty string
var str = ""

// Getting the first character
// Using first property
if let output = str.first{
   print("First character =", output)
}else{
   print("String is empty")
}

Output

String is empty