Protocol func returning Self

Question

I have a protocol P that returns a copy of the object:

protocol P {
    func copy() -> Self
}

and a class C that implements P:

Answer 1

There is another way to do what you want that involves taking advantage of Swift's associated type. Here's a simple example:

public protocol Creatable {

    associatedtype ObjectType = Self

    static func create() -> ObjectType
}

class MyClass {

    // Your class stuff here
}

extension MyClass: Creatable {

    // Define the protocol function to return class type
    static func create() -> MyClass {

         // Create an instance of your class however you want
        return MyClass()
    }
}

let obj = MyClass.create()