Swift:
Converting a date into a string

How to:

Swift uses DateFormatter to turn Date objects into readable strings. Here’s how:

import Foundation

let date = Date()
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
let dateString = formatter.string(from: date)
print(dateString) // Output: "2023-04-05 14:20:35" (or current date and time)

Change the dateFormat to tweak how your date looks:

formatter.dateFormat = "EEEE, MMM d, yyyy"
print(formatter.string(from: date)) // Output: "Wednesday, Apr 5, 2023"

Deep Dive

Before DateFormatter, Objective-C and early Swift used NSDateFormatter, which is essentially the same thing rebranded. The key is knowing ISO 8601, a common date format standard. Developers must balance custom formats with user locale settings. Why? Dates read differently worldwide. For example, Americans use “MM/dd/yyyy”, while many European countries use “dd/MM/yyyy”.

Alternatives? Sure. Swift offers ISO8601DateFormatter for ISO 8601 dates, and DateComponentsFormatter for duration strings, like “42 minutes”. You could also go custom with .formatted() in Swift 5.5 onwards:

let formattedDate = date.formatted(.dateTime.year().month().day().hour().minute().second())
print(formattedDate) // Output will depend on your locale settings

Beware: Custom string creation can lead to localization headaches and error-prone code. Stick with formatters and standards when possible.

See Also

• Date Formatting - Apple’s Documentation on DateFormatter