The Encodable protocol in Swift is used to define how instances of a type can be converted into a format that can be stored or transmitted, such as JSON or XML. By conforming to Encodable, a type provides a way to encode its data into a serialized format. This is particularly useful when sending data from a Swift application to a server, or when saving data to a file. The Encodable protocol allows for customization of the encoding process through the use of encoding containers, which map properties of a type to keys in the serialized output. Swift's Codable protocol, which combines Encodable and Decodable, simplifies this process, enabling seamless conversion between complex data types and their serialized representations.

1. Creating the URLRequest Object

var urlRequest = URLRequest(url: URL(string: Endpoint.registerUser)!)
urlRequest.httpMethod = "post"

Explanation:

• URLRequest Initialization: This creates an instance of URLRequest using the URL for the API endpoint. The URL(string: Endpoint.registerUser)! creates a URL object from the endpoint string defined in your Endpoint struct.
• Setting HTTP Method: Setting the httpMethod to "post" specifies that this request will be a POST request, as opposed to a GET or another type of HTTP method.

2. Creating the UserRegistrationRequest Object

let request = UserRegistrationRequest(Name: "ravi", Email: "[email protected]", Password: "1234")

Explanation:

• Request Object: This creates an instance of UserRegistrationRequest with the necessary user data to be sent in the body of the POST request. Encodable ensures that this struct can be converted to JSON format.

3. Encoding the Request Object to JSON

do {
    let requestBody = try JSONEncoder().encode(request)
    urlRequest.httpBody = requestBody
    urlRequest.addValue("application/json", forHTTPHeaderField: "content-type")
} catch let error {
    debugPrint(error.localizedDescription)
}

Explanation:

• JSON Encoding: JSONEncoder().encode(request) converts the UserRegistrationRequest object into JSON data. This is necessary because the server expects the request body to be in JSON format.
• Setting HTTP Body: urlRequest.httpBody = requestBody sets this JSON data as the body of the POST request.
• Content-Type Header: urlRequest.addValue("application/json", forHTTPHeaderField: "content-type") specifies the content type of the request body as JSON. This informs the server that the request payload is in JSON format.
• Error Handling: If encoding fails, it prints the error message for debugging.

4. Making the Network Request

URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: urlRequest) { (data, httpUrlResponse, error) in
    if(data != nil && data?.count != 0) {
        do {
            // Uncomment this code to view the server response in console
            // let str = String(decoding: data!, as: UTF8.self)
            // debugPrint(str)
            let response = try JSONDecoder().decode(UserRegistrationResponse.self, from: data!)
            print("This is the data sent")
            debugPrint(response.data.name, response.data.email, response.data.id)
        }
        catch let decodingError {
            debugPrint(decodingError)
        }
    }
}.resume()