title: How can I encode a string to Base64 in Swift?
body: <p>I want to convert a string to Base64. I found answers in several places, but it does not work anymore in Swift. I am using Xcode 6.2. I believe the answer might be work in previous Xcode versions and not Xcode 6.2.</p>
  
  <p>Could someone please guide me to do this in Xcode 6.2?</p>
  
  <p>The answer I found was this, but it does not work in my version of Xcode:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var str = "iOS Developer Tips encoded in Base64"
  println("Original: \(str)")
  
  // UTF 8 str from original
  // NSData! type returned (optional)
  let utf8str = str.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding)
  
  // Base64 encode UTF 8 string
  // fromRaw(0) is equivalent to objc 'base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0'
  // Notice the unwrapping given the NSData! optional
  // NSString! returned (optional)
  let base64Encoded = utf8str.base64EncodedStringWithOptions(NSDataBase64EncodingOptions.fromRaw(0)!)
  println("Encoded:  \(base64Encoded)")
  
  // Base64 Decode (go back the other way)
  // Notice the unwrapping given the NSString! optional
  // NSData returned
  let data = NSData(base64EncodedString: base64Encoded, options:   NSDataBase64DecodingOptions.fromRaw(0)!)
  
  // Convert back to a string
  let base64Decoded = NSString(data: data, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
  println("Decoded:  \(base64Decoded)")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>ref: <a href="http://iosdevelopertips.com/swift-code/base64-encode-decode-swift.html" rel="noreferrer">http://iosdevelopertips.com/swift-code/base64-encode-decode-swift.html</a></p>