Quick Answer

Optionals represent either a value or nil

Understanding the Issue

Swift Optionals handle the absence of a value explicitly. They are declared with a ? after the type. Unwrapping options safely prevents runtime crashes.

The Problem

This code demonstrates the issue:

Swift Error 
// Problem: Forced unwrapping danger
var name: String? = nil
print(name!) // Crash

The Solution

Here's the corrected code:

Swift Fixed 
// Solution 1: Optional binding
if let unwrappedName = name {
    print(unwrappedName)
}

// Solution 2: Nil coalescing
print(name ?? "default")

Key Takeaways

Always handle Optionals safely to avoid runtime crashes.