Swift: How to declare a 2d array (grid or matrix) in Swift to allow random insert

Question

I need to be able to store information about cells in a 2d matrix or grid. Data is not contiguous so I may need to store data at 5,5 when there is no data at lower rows and

Answer 1

Here is a very basic implementation, using Dictionary as backend storage:

struct Matrix2D<KeyElem:Hashable, Value> {

    var _storage:[KeyElem:[KeyElem:Value]] = [:]

    subscript(x:KeyElem, y:KeyElem) -> Value? {
        get {
            return _storage[x]?[y]
        }
        set(val) {
            if _storage[x] == nil {
                _storage[x] = [:]
            }
            _storage[x]![y] = val
        }
    }
}

var matrix = Matrix2D<Int, String>()

matrix[1,2] = "foo"

as DictionaryLiteralConvertible:

extension Matrix2D:DictionaryLiteralConvertible {

    typealias Key = (x:KeyElem, y:KeyElem)

    init(dictionaryLiteral elements: (Key, Value)...) {
        for (key, val) in elements {
            self[key.x, key.y] = val
        }
    }
}

var matrix:Matrix2D = [(1,2):"foo", (2,3):"bar"]

---

Array backend version

struct Matrix2D<T> {

    var _storage:[[T?]] = []

    subscript(x:Int, y:Int) -> T? {
       get {
            if _storage.count <= x {
                return nil
            }
            if _storage[x].count <= y {
                return nil
            }
            return _storage[x][y]
        }
        set(val) {
            if _storage.count <= x {
                let cols = [[T?]](count: x - _storage.count + 1, repeatedValue: [])
                _storage.extend(cols)
            }
            if _storage[x].count <= y {
                let rows = [T?](count: y - _storage[x].count + 1, repeatedValue: nil)
                _storage[x].extend(rows)
            }
            _storage[x][y] = val
        }
    }
}