ExampleHTTPSRequestInPlayground

HttpsRequestPlayground.swift

import UIKit
import XCPlayground

//  Plain HTTP Request
var session = NSURLSession.sharedSession()
var url = NSURL(scheme: "http", host: "www.ibm.com", path: "/")!
var request = NSMutableURLRequest(URL: url)
var plainHttpTask = session.dataTaskWithRequest(request) {
    (data, response, error) -> Void in
    if error != nil {
        // handle the error
        println("Error: \(error)")
    } else {
        let stringData = NSString(data: data, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
    }
}
plainHttpTask.resume()


// HTTPS Request
var secureSession = NSURLSession.sharedSession()
if let url = NSURL(scheme: "https", host: "api.github.com", path: "/users/collinsrj/repos") {
    var httpsTask = secureSession.dataTaskWithURL(url) {
        (data, response, error) -> Void in
        if error != nil {
            // handle the error
            println("Error: \(error)")
        } else {
            let stringData = NSString(data: data, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
        }
    }
    httpsTask.resume()
}

XCPSetExecutionShouldContinueIndefinitely()

Note

You need to make sure you run this with Run in Full Simulator in the Playground Settings. If you don't you'll see an error "The certificate for this server is invalid..." I spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong. It's really hard to use Playgrounds to learn in if they don't work.