Extension+URL.swift

extension URL {
    /// Initializes with a String and can provide automatic URL encoding
    ///
    /// Returns nil if a URL cannot be formed with the string (for example, if the string contains characters that are illegal in a URL that could not be encoded, or is an empty string).
    init?(_ string: String, provideURLEncoding: Bool) {
        
        guard provideURLEncoding else {
            guard let url = URL(string: string) else { return nil }
            self = url
            return
        }
        
        guard let safeString = string.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: .urlQueryAllowed) else { return nil }
        guard let url = URL(string: safeString) else { return nil}
        self = url
    }
}

The purpose of this is to automatically add percent encoding to possibly invalid URLs coming from dynamic sources such as a public/private API. Some URL strings in a JSON response (for example) may have spaces or other invalid characters. This will autocorrect that with percent URL encoding.

// Without URL Encoding
print("Without: (String(describing: URL("", provideURLEncoding: false)))")
print("Without: (String(describing: URL("https://apple.com/", provideURLEncoding: false)))")
print("Without: (String(describing: URL("https://apple.com/this is an apple.html", provideURLEncoding: false)))\n")

// With URL Encoding
print("With: (String(describing: URL("", provideURLEncoding: true)))")
print("With: (String(describing: URL("https://apple.com/", provideURLEncoding: true)))")
print("With: (String(describing: URL("https://apple.com/this is an apple.html", provideURLEncoding: true)))")

--------------------------Prints--------------------------
Without: nil
Without: Optional(https://apple.com/)
Without: nil

With: nil
With: Optional(https://apple.com/)
With: Optional(https://apple.com/this%20is%20an%20apple.html)