Type Tests

The is operator tests whether a value currently holds a given type. It produces a bool: true when the value has that type, false otherwise.

let result = shape is Circle; // bool

The left operand is a value; the right operand is a type. is never converts or moves anything — it only inspects the type and reports the answer. To actually obtain the value as the tested type, follow the test with an as cast.

Testing Enum Variants

The most common use is checking which variant a tagged enum currently holds:

enum Shape {
    Circle(float64),
    Rectangle(float64, float64),
    Triangle(float64, float64, float64)
}

func Describe(shape: Shape) {
    if shape is Circle {
        Print("It's a circle");
    } else if shape is Rectangle {
        Print("It's a rectangle");
    }
}

Because is returns a plain bool, it composes with the ordinary logical operators:

let rounded = shape is Circle || shape is Ellipse;

In Conditions

is is most often written directly in an if condition. Pair it with as inside the branch to work with the value at its concrete type:

if shape is Circle {
    let circle = shape as Circle;
    Print(circle.radius);
}

is vs. match

A single is test answers one yes/no question. When every variant must be handled, prefer match: it destructures the variant data and checks exhaustively that no case is missed.

// One case in isolation — use `is`
if event is Quit {
    Exit();
}

// All cases, with the variant data — use `match`
match event {
    Event::Click(x, y)   => HandleClick(x, y),
    Event::KeyPress(key) => HandleKey(key),
    Event::Quit          => Exit(),
}

Reach for is when you care about a single type and don't need the payload; reach for match when you need exhaustiveness, the bound data, or several arms.

is vs. as

is and as are companion type operators:

Operator	Question it answers	Result
is	Does this value have type T?	bool
as	Give me this value as type T	the value as T

Test before you cast when the type is not statically guaranteed:

if value is Rectangle {
    let rect = value as Rectangle; // safe — the test just succeeded
}

Precedence

is shares precedence level 2 with as — just below the unary operators and above arithmetic, so it binds tighter than the comparison and logical operators. This means shape is Circle && radius > 0.0 reads as (shape is Circle) && (radius > 0.0) without extra parentheses:

let valid = shape is Circle && radius > 0.0;

See Operator Precedence for the complete table.

See Also

• Type Casts — the companion as operator
• match — exhaustive alternative when handling every variant
• Enumerations — the tagged values is most often inspects