In Swift, Any and AnyObject are two different types that serve different purposes.
Any is a type that can represent any value, including instances of classes, structs, enums, and even functions. Any is useful when you need to work with values of unknown type, or when you want to write generic code that can operate on values of different types. For example, if you have an array of type [Any], you can store values of any type in it, and you can access the values using typecasting.
AnyObject, on the other hand, is a type that can represent any instance of a class, but not structs or enums. AnyObject is useful when you need to work with objects of unknown class type, or when you want to write generic code that can operate on objects of different classes. For example, if you have an array of type [AnyObject], you can store instances of any class in it, and you can access the instances using typecasting.
Here’s an example to illustrate the difference:
class MyClass {}
struct MyStruct {}
let anyArray: [Any] = [1, "hello", MyClass(), MyStruct()] // OK
let objectArray: [AnyObject] = [1, "hello", MyClass()] // Error: Cannot convert value of type 'Int' to expected element type 'AnyObject'
In the example above, the anyArray array can hold values of different types, including instances of MyClass and MyStruct. On the other hand, the objectArray array can only hold instances of classes, and cannot hold instances of MyStruct or other value types.
In summary, Any is a type that can represent any value, while AnyObject is a type that can represent any instance of a class.
