Semicolons in Swift

Semicolons are the little dots-with-a-tail that some languages need at the end of every line, but Swift usually lets you skip them.

In this page:

Swift statements are terminated by a newline, so you do not need to add a semicolon at the end of each line, unlike C or Java.

Example: No Semicolons Needed

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let a = 5
let b = 10
print(a + b)

If you want to write two statements on a single line, Swift requires a semicolon to separate them, since there is no newline to mark the boundary.

Example: Semicolons for Same-Line Statements

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let x = 1; let y = 2; print(x + y)

While Swift allows a trailing semicolon on any statement, idiomatic Swift code omits it since it adds no value and clutters the code.

Note: Swift-lint style guides consistently recommend dropping semicolons entirely.

Example: Idiomatic Style

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let language = "Swift"
print(language)
// no semicolons needed above, and none are idiomatic here

Common Mistakes

Adding semicolons out of habit from other languages; while legal, they are unnecessary and not idiomatic Swift.
Forgetting that a semicolon IS required when writing two statements on the same line.
Assuming Swift will silently reformat code with stray semicolons in surprising ways; extra semicolons on their own line are simply unnecessary but not an error at statement boundaries.

Chapter Summary

Swift statements do not require a trailing semicolon.
A semicolon is only needed to separate two statements written on the same line.
Idiomatic Swift style omits semicolons entirely, one statement per line.
This is different from languages like C, Java, or JavaScript where semicolons are mandatory.

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