storyboard! vs. UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)

Question

I got put into a project that has the following declaration:

UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil).instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("asdf") as! AsdfViewController

I've always used storyboard! to do this. It is my understanding that storyboard! will always give me UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil). Is this a dangerous assumption to make?

I know that you may want to use the official constructor for UIStoryboard if you wanted to reference a different storyboard file, but is it safe to abbreviate it to storyboard! if you are sure that the VC you wish to instantiate is part of Main.storyboard?

Answer 1

If you are calling self.storyboard from a view controller that is on another storyboard file, it will give reference to that particular storyboard; not the main storyboard. By mentioning:

UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)

You can make sure that you are referencing the main storyboard always.

In following situations:

1. Have only one storyboard file
2. Instantiate a view controller which is also included in the current view controller's storyboard

using self.storyboard is enough.