JSON Value Extraction in Swift. Blog post here http://jasonlarsen.me/2015/10/16/no-magic-json-pt3.html

JaSON.swift

import Foundation

//
// MARK: - JSONError Type
//

public enum JSONError: ErrorType, CustomStringConvertible {
    case KeyNotFound(key: JSONKeyType)
    case NullValue(key: JSONKeyType)
    case TypeMismatch(expected: Any, actual: Any)
    case TypeMismatchWithKey(key: JSONKeyType, expected: Any, actual: Any)
    
    public var description: String {
        switch self {
        case let .KeyNotFound(key):
            return "Key not found: \(key.stringValue)"
        case let .NullValue(key):
            return "Null Value found at: \(key.stringValue)"
        case let .TypeMismatch(expected, actual):
            return "Type mismatch. Expected type \(expected). Got '\(actual)'"
        case let .TypeMismatchWithKey(key, expected, actual):
            return "Type mismatch. Expected type \(expected) at key: \(key). Got '\(actual)'"
        }
    }
}

//
// MARK: - JSONKeyType
//

public protocol JSONKeyType: Hashable {
    var stringValue: String { get }
}

extension String: JSONKeyType {
    public var stringValue: String {
        return self
    }
}

//
// MARK: - JSONValueType
//

public protocol JSONValueType {
    typealias ValueType = Self
    
    static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> ValueType
}

extension JSONValueType {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> ValueType {
        guard let objectValue = object as? ValueType else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: ValueType.self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        return objectValue
    }
}

//
// MARK: - JSONValueType Implementations
//

extension String: JSONValueType {}
extension Int: JSONValueType {}
extension UInt: JSONValueType {}
extension Float: JSONValueType {}
extension Double: JSONValueType {}
extension Bool: JSONValueType {}

extension Array where Element: JSONValueType {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> [Element] {
        guard let anyArray = object as? [AnyObject] else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        return try anyArray.map { try Element.JSONValue($0) as! Element }
    }
}

extension Dictionary: JSONValueType {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> [Key: Value] {
        guard let objectValue = object as? [Key: Value] else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        return objectValue
    }
}

extension NSURL: JSONValueType {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> NSURL {
        guard let urlString = object as? String, objectValue = NSURL(string: urlString) else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        return objectValue
    }
}

//
// MARK: - JSONObjectConvertible
//

public protocol JSONObjectConvertible : JSONValueType {
    typealias ConvertibleType = Self
    init(json: JSONObject) throws
}

extension JSONObjectConvertible {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> ConvertibleType {
        guard let json = object as? JSONObject else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: JSONObject.self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        guard let value = try self.init(json: json) as? ConvertibleType else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: ConvertibleType.self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }
        return value
    }
}

//
// MARK: - JSONObject
//

public typealias JSONObject = [String: AnyObject]

extension Dictionary where Key: JSONKeyType {
    private func anyForKey(key: Key) throws -> Any {
        let pathComponents = key.stringValue.characters.split(".").map(String.init)
        var accumulator: Any = self
        
        for component in pathComponents {
            if let componentData = accumulator as? [Key: Value], value = componentData[component as! Key] {
                accumulator = value
                continue
            }
            
            throw JSONError.KeyNotFound(key: key)
        }
        
        if let _ = accumulator as? NSNull {
            throw JSONError.NullValue(key: key)
        }
        
        return accumulator
    }
    
    public func JSONValueForKey<A: JSONValueType>(key: Key) throws -> A {
        let any = try anyForKey(key)
        guard let result = try A.JSONValue(any) as? A else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatchWithKey(key: key, expected: A.self, actual: any.dynamicType)
        }
        
        return result
    }
    
    public func JSONValueForKey<A: JSONValueType>(key: Key) throws -> [A] {
        let any = try anyForKey(key)
        return try Array<A>.JSONValue(any)
    }
    
    public func JSONValueForKey<A: JSONValueType>(key: Key) throws -> A? {
        do {
            return try self.JSONValueForKey(key) as A
        }
        catch JSONError.KeyNotFound {
            return nil
        }
        catch JSONError.NullValue {
            return nil
        }
        catch {
            throw error
        }
    }
}

//
// MARK: - Tests
//

struct User : JSONObjectConvertible {
    let name: String
    let email: String
    
    init(json: JSONObject) throws {
        name = try json.JSONValueForKey("name")
        email = try json.JSONValueForKey("email")
    }
}

var json: JSONObject = ["url": "http://apple.com", "foo": (2 as NSNumber), "str": "Hello, World!", "array": [1,2,3,4,7], "object": ["foo": (3 as NSNumber), "str": "Hello, World!"], "bool": (true as NSNumber), "urls": ["http://apple.com", "http://google.com"], "user": ["name": "Jason", "email": "email@email.com"], "users": [["name": "Jason", "email": "email@email.com"], ["name": "Bob", "email": "bob@email.com"]]]
do {
    var str: String = try json.JSONValueForKey("str")
    //    var foo1: String = try json.JSONValueForKey("foo")
    var foo2: Int = try json.JSONValueForKey("foo")
    var foo3: Int? = try json.JSONValueForKey("foo")
    var foo4: Int? = try json.JSONValueForKey("bar")
    var arr: [Int] = try json.JSONValueForKey("array")
    var obj: JSONObject? = try json.JSONValueForKey("object")
    let innerfoo: Int = try obj!.JSONValueForKey("foo")
    let innerfoo2: Int = try json.JSONValueForKey("object.foo")
    let bool: Bool = try json.JSONValueForKey("bool")
    let url: NSURL = try json.JSONValueForKey("url")
    let urls: [NSURL] = try json.JSONValueForKey("urls")
    let user: User = try json.JSONValueForKey("user")
    let users: [User] = try json.JSONValueForKey("users")
}
catch {
    print("\(error)")
}

Proposal:

Add case InvalidValue(value: Any) and case InvalidValueWithKey(key: JSONKeyType, value: Any) to JSONError. This is useful in situations in which a value is transformed into another type, such as when converting a String to NSURL.

Example:

extension NSURL: JSONValueType {
    public static func JSONValue(object: Any) throws -> NSURL {
        guard let urlString = object as? String else {
            throw JSONError.TypeMismatch(expected: self, actual: object.dynamicType)
        }

        guard let objectValue = NSURL(string: urlString) else {
            throw JSONError.InvalidValue(value: urlString)
        }

        return objectValue
    }
}

This allows for a more accurate error when the type is actually the expected type (String), but the value is invalid for constructing the new type. In my case, I got a URL string that had a space at the end. There was not a type mismatch, but an invalid value. However, the error thrown was JSONError.TypeMismatch.