Using metatype Self to return current type

A helpful keyword in Swift is Self, which is a metatype that represents the current type. The current type may be the class, subclass or current implementer of a protocol, depending on where it is used.

A handy use-case for it is to avoid specifying generic placeholder types. Neat!

class ThreadRobot<CallerT: CallerRobot> {
    private let app = XCUIApplication()

    func tapCompleteButton() -> Self {
        app.otherElements["actionButtonRail"].buttons["Complete"].tap()
        return self
    }
}

I hope the article was useful. If you have any feedback or questions please feel free to reach out.

Thanks for reading!