Convert a two byte UInt8 array to a UInt16 in Swift

Question

With Swift I want to convert bytes from a uint8_t array to an integer.

"C" Example:

char bytes[2] = {0x01, 0x02};
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithBytes:bytes length:2];
NSLog(@"data: %@", data); // data: <0102>

uint16_t value2 = *(uint16_t *)data.bytes;
NSLog(@"value2: %i", value2); // value2: 513

Swift Attempt:

let bytes:[UInt8] = [0x01, 0x02]
println("bytes: (bytes)") // bytes: [1, 2]
let data = NSData(bytes: bytes, length: 2)
println("data: (data)") // data: <0102>

let integer1 = *data.bytes // This fails
let integer2 = *data.bytes as UInt16 // This fails

let dataBytePointer = UnsafePointer<UInt16>(data.bytes)
let integer3 = dataBytePointer as UInt16 // This fails
let integer4 = *dataBytePointer as UInt16 // This fails
let integer5 = *dataBytePointer // This fails

What is the correct syntax or code to create a UInt16 value from a UInt8 array in Swift?

I am interested in the NSData version and am looking for a solution that does not use a temp array.

Answer 1

If you want to go via NSData then it would work like this:

let bytes:[UInt8] = [0x01, 0x02]
println("bytes: (bytes)") // bytes: [1, 2]
let data = NSData(bytes: bytes, length: 2)
print("data: (data)") // data: <0102>

var u16 : UInt16 = 0 ; data.getBytes(&u16)
// Or:
let u16 = UnsafePointer<UInt16>(data.bytes).memory

println("u16: (u16)") // u16: 513

Alternatively:

let bytes:[UInt8] = [0x01, 0x02]
let u16 = UnsafePointer<UInt16>(bytes).memory
print("u16: (u16)") // u16: 513

Both variants assume that the bytes are in the host byte order.

Update for Swift 3 (Xcode 8):

let bytes: [UInt8] = [0x01, 0x02]
let u16 = UnsafePointer(bytes).withMemoryRebound(to: UInt16.self, capacity: 1) {
    $0.pointee
}
print("u16: (u16)") // u16: 513