我的解决方案，它似乎可以在O(n)时间，因为哈希映射访问是O(1)，过滤器是O(n)。它还使用by闭包来选择按顺序区分元素的属性。

extension Sequence {

    func distinct<T: Hashable>(by: (Element) -> T) -> [Element] {
        var seen: [T: Bool] = [:]
        return self.filter { seen.updateValue(true, forKey: by($0)) == nil }
    }
}

下面是使用自定义匹配函数使序列唯一的更灵活的方法。

extension Sequence where Iterator.Element: Hashable {

    func unique(matching: (Iterator.Element, Iterator.Element) -> Bool) -> [Iterator.Element] {

        var uniqueArray: [Iterator.Element] = []
        forEach { element in
            let isUnique = uniqueArray.reduce(true, { (result, item) -> Bool in
                return result && matching(element, item)
            })
            if isUnique {
                uniqueArray.append(element)
            }
        }
        return uniqueArray
    }
}

包含相等性检查，而插入检查哈希，最安全的检查方式如下:

extension Array where Element: Hashable {

    /// Big O(N) version. Updated since @Adrian's comment. 
    var uniques: Array {
        // Go front to back, add element to buffer if it isn't a repeat.
         var buffer: [Element] = []
         var dictionary: [Element: Int] = [:]
         for element in self where dictionary[element] == nil {
             buffer.append(element)
             dictionary[element] = 1
         }
         return buffer
    }
}

从数组中删除重复项的简单方法

extension Array where Element: Equatable {
mutating func removeDuplicates() {
    var result = [Element]()
    for value in self {
        if !result.contains(value) {
            result.append(value)
        }
    }
    self = result
}}

编辑/更新Swift 4或更高版本

我们还可以扩展RangeReplaceableCollection协议，以允许它也用于StringProtocol类型:

extension RangeReplaceableCollection where Element: Hashable {
    var orderedSet: Self {
        var set = Set<Element>()
        return filter { set.insert($0).inserted }
    }
    mutating func removeDuplicates() {
        var set = Set<Element>()
        removeAll { !set.insert($0).inserted }
    }
}

let integers = [1, 4, 2, 2, 6, 24, 15, 2, 60, 15, 6]
let integersOrderedSet = integers.orderedSet // [1, 4, 2, 6, 24, 15, 60]

"abcdefabcghi".orderedSet  // "abcdefghi"
"abcdefabcghi".dropFirst(3).orderedSet // "defabcghi"

变异的方法:

var string = "abcdefabcghi"
string.removeDuplicates() 
string  //  "abcdefghi"

var substring = "abcdefabcdefghi".dropFirst(3)  // "defabcdefghi"
substring.removeDuplicates()
substring   // "defabcghi"

对于Swift 3，请点击这里

让我提出一个类似于斯科特·加德纳的答案，但使用了更简洁的reduce语法。 此解决方案从自定义对象数组中删除重复项(保持初始顺序)

// Custom Struct. Can be also class. 
// Need to be `equitable` in order to use `contains` method below
struct CustomStruct : Equatable {
      let name: String
      let lastName : String
    }

// conform to Equatable protocol. feel free to change the logic of "equality"
func ==(lhs: CustomStruct, rhs: CustomStruct) -> Bool {
  return (lhs.name == rhs.name && lhs.lastName == rhs.lastName)
}

let categories = [CustomStruct(name: "name1", lastName: "lastName1"),
                  CustomStruct(name: "name2", lastName: "lastName1"),
                  CustomStruct(name: "name1", lastName: "lastName1")]
print(categories.count) // prints 3

// remove duplicates (and keep initial order of elements)
let uniq1 : [CustomStruct] = categories.reduce([]) { $0.contains($1) ? $0 : $0 + [$1] }
print(uniq1.count) // prints 2 - third element has removed

如果你想知道这个约简魔法是如何工作的，这里是完全相同的，只是使用了更扩展的约简语法

let uniq2 : [CustomStruct] = categories.reduce([]) { (result, category) in
  var newResult = result
  if (newResult.contains(category)) {}
  else {
    newResult.append(category)
  }
  return newResult
}
uniq2.count // prints 2 - third element has removed

你可以简单地复制粘贴这段代码到Swift Playground中。