Swift protocol extension implementing another protocol with shared associated type

Question

Consider the following:

protocol Foo {
  typealias A
  func hello() -> A
}
protocol FooBar: Foo {
  func hi() -> A
}
extension FooBar {
  func hello() -> A {
    return hi()
  }
}

class FooBarClass: FooBar {
  typealias A = String
  func hi() -> String {
    return "hello world"
  }
}

This code compiles. But if I comment out explicit definition of associated type typealias A = String, then for some reason, swiftc fails to infer the type.

I'm sensing this has to do with two protocols sharing the same associated type but without a direct assertion through, for example, type parameterization (maybe associated type is not powerful/mature enough?), which makes it ambiguous for type inference.

I'm not sure if this is a bug / immaturity of the language, or maybe, I'm missing some nuances in protocol extension which rightfully lead to this behaviour.

Can someone shed some light on this?

Answer 1

look at this example

protocol Foo {
    typealias A
    func hello() -> A
}
protocol FooBar: Foo {
    typealias B
    func hi() -> B
}
extension FooBar {
    func hello() -> B {
        return hi()
    }
}

class FooBarClass: FooBar {
    //typealias A = String
    func hi() -> String {
        return "hello world"
    }
}

with generics

class FooBarClass<T>: FooBar {
    var t: T?
    func hi() -> T? {
        return t
    }
}

let fbc: FooBarClass<Int> = FooBarClass()
fbc.t = 10
fbc.hello() // 10
fbc.hi()    // 10