What is Swift Programming?
Well if you are a fan of Apple devices and want to build apps for them, then Swift is for you. This is the programming language which is used to develop apps, exclusively for “iOS” and “Mac OS” devices. Unlike Android, where we can use tons of programming languages to build apps, Apple has limited options.
Why? Mainly because Apple has its own set of hardware (processors) and software (operating systems) products. This provides them with full control over their devices which naturally enhances their product value. Apple is also the Richest company in the world (Worth – 1 Trillion Dollars). Want to know how?
- Also Read- Top 5 Reasons Of Apple Success.
So in a nutshell, if you want to develop apps for Apple devices, then you need to learn Swift and of course some other languages such as C, C++, and Objective-C as well. But here we will be discussing about this particular language only, What made it to the list of top programming languages? Let’s find out. But before that let’s see what definition has to offer.
Definition- “Swift is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm, compiled programming language developed by Apple Inc. for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and Linux. It is mainly designed to work with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks and the large body of existing Objective-C code written for Apple products.”
Why was swift Created?
Just before Swift another popular programming language called Objective C was in use. Later Apple decided to launch another Programming language which was expected to overtake this language and it did pretty well. On June 2 – 2014, at Apple’s WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) its beta version was released. And later they made it stable.
Features of Swift
Let’s Take a quick look into the key features of the Apple’s Swift Programming Language.
- Open Souce- Swift is an open source programming language which is developed by Swift.org. It’s a site dedicated to the open source community, which also offers a Linux version of this language. It has support for all Apple platforms and makes softwares run faster, smoother and safer. This is the main reason why developers prefer Swift over Objective C.
- Better Syntax- This language also offers better syntax. It allows us to write more expressive and error-free code. The 2.0 version of Swift offers keyword naming rules unified for methods and functions, extended pattern matching to work in if clauses and for loops, protocol extensions and much more. Thus providing a cleaner and expressive programming language with the simplest syntax.
- Fast and Powerful- It’s is a fairly fast and powerful programming language. Also uses high-performance LLVM compiler to transform Swift code into native code. Also, the object Sorting is much faster in swift as compared with Python. “what is python? introduction and features.“
- Safe- Swift offers a great amount of safety. It removes the entire unsafe class. Integers are double checked for overflow and variable are initialized just before use. There is also a provision of automatic memory management. Overall it’s a safe language and must be appreciated for it.
- Interoperability- The compatibility of Swift with Objective C allows you to create apps with the code written Objective C too. Also, you can implement part of your app’s functionality by using the Swift’s latest features and incorporate it back into your existing Objective-C codebase as well.
Applications of Swift
As we mentioned earlier swift is exclusive to Apple devices only. So the use of swift is limited to iMac, iPhones, Apple TV and other gadgets.
- iMac- Swift plays a very crucial role in the development of Mac Operating Systems. These are one of the finest Operating system ever made. And they also contribute to Apple’s ecosystem.
- iOS- Yes, iPhones have the huge influence in smartphones industry. And they are also the major source of income for Apple. So as we mentioned earlier Apple has it’s own hardware and software, So in that contrast, Swift plays an important role in iOS powered apps as well.
- Apple TV- For tv’s Apple has its special Operating System Commonly known as tvOs. And as we mentioned earlier all Apple devices are powered by Swift so tvOs is also there.
In simple words, Swift is responsible for the working of every Apple device.
Various Resources to learn Swift
Similar to any other language there are tons and tons of resources available to learn Swift as well. You can learn it offline by taking numerous classes in your city or you can just opt for an online course. The main advantage of online courses is that they offer free tutorials. This facilitates you to learn without paying anything. So here we are listing some of the best available online sources.
So this was all regarding Swift if you find this helpful let us know in the comment section below.
Stay tuned for more.