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What is the difference between Any and AnyObject?

· One min read
Ace the iOS Interview
Ace the iOS Interview
Aryaman Sharda
Sources & Resources

Main Source: đź”— Ace the iOS Interview

Additional Sources:

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TL/DR

When we need to work with non-specific types, we have two options to pick from: Any and AnyObject.

Any is used to refer to any instance of a class, struct, function, enum, etc. This is particularly useful when you’re working with a variety of data:

let items: [Any] = [ 1 , UIColor.red, "Blue", Toggle()]

AnyObject is more restrictive as it refers to any instance of a class type. You’ll use this when you only want to work with reference types or when you want to restrict a protocol to only be used with a class type:

protocol ClassOnlyProtocol: AnyObject {...}

In contrast, Any can be used with both value and reference types.

It’s preferable to be as specific as possible about the type you’re using, so I’d encourage you to only use Any or AnyObject when you specifically needthe behavior they provide.