---
title: description
framework: swift
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: swift/anyhashable/description
---

# description

A textual representation of this instance.

## Declaration

```swift
var description: String { get }
```

## Discussion

Discussion Calling this property directly is discouraged. Instead, convert an instance of any type to a string by using the String(describing:) initializer. This initializer works with any type, and uses the custom description property for types that conform to CustomStringConvertible: struct Point: CustomStringConvertible {     let x: Int, y: Int

var description: String {         return "(\(x), \(y))"     } }

let p = Point(x: 21, y: 30) let s = String(describing: p) print(s) // Prints "(21, 30)" The conversion of p to a string in the assignment to s uses the Point type’s description property.