Return instancetype in Swift

Similar as in Using ‘self’ in class extension functions in Swift, you can define a generic helper method which infers the type of self from the calling context:

extension UIViewController
{
    class func instantiateFromStoryboard(storyboardName: String, storyboardId: String) -> Self
    {
        return instantiateFromStoryboardHelper(storyboardName, storyboardId: storyboardId)
    }

    private class func instantiateFromStoryboardHelper<T>(storyboardName: String, storyboardId: String) -> T
    {
        let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: storyboardName, bundle: nil)
        let controller = storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier(storyboardId) as! T
        return controller
    }
}

Then

let vc = MyViewController.instantiateFromStoryboard("name", storyboardId: "id")

compiles, and the type is inferred as MyViewController.

---

Update for Swift 3:

extension UIViewController
{
    class func instantiateFromStoryboard(storyboardName: String, storyboardId: String) -> Self
    {
        return instantiateFromStoryboardHelper(storyboardName: storyboardName, storyboardId: storyboardId)
    }

    private class func instantiateFromStoryboardHelper<T>(storyboardName: String, storyboardId: String) -> T
    {
        let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: storyboardName, bundle: nil)
        let controller = storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: storyboardId) as! T
        return controller
    }
}

Another possible solution, using unsafeDowncast:

extension UIViewController
{
    class func instantiateFromStoryboard(storyboardName: String, storyboardId: String) -> Self
    {
        let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: storyboardName, bundle: nil)
        let controller = storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: storyboardId)
        return unsafeDowncast(controller, to: self)
    }
}