Are you a fan of Visual Studio Code (VSCode) and wish you could use it for Swift and iOS development? Well, you're in luck! While Xcode is the official IDE for Swift and iOS, with a few tweaks and tools, you can transform VSCode into a powerful environment for your development needs. Let's dive in!
Setting the Stage
First things first, you'll need to have Xcode and VSCode installed on your machine. Xcode is essential for its command line tools and simulators, while VSCode is our star player.
Powering Up VSCode
Once you've got the basics, it's time to supercharge VSCode with some Swift-specific extensions:
-
Swift for Visual Studio Code: This extension, by Kasik96, brings Swift language support to VSCode. Just search for
Swiftin the Extensions view and hit install. -
CodeLLDB: This is your go-to for debugging Swift code. Search for
CodeLLDBin the Extensions view and install it. -
SwiftLint: A tool for enforcing Swift style and conventions. Install it via Homebrew with
brew install swiftlint.
Running Swift Code
With your VSCode now Swift-ready, you can create a new Swift file and run your code directly from the built-in terminal. Just navigate to your file's directory and run swift <filename>.swift.
Tackling iOS Apps
Here's where things get a bit tricky. VSCode doesn't have built-in support for iOS simulators, so you'll need to use Xcode for running and testing your iOS apps. But don't worry, you can still write and debug your code in VSCode.
Start by creating a new iOS project in Xcode, then open the project in VSCode. You can now write your Swift code and use the Swift and CodeLLDB extensions for linting and debugging. When you're ready to run your app, switch back to Xcode and hit the Run button.
Wrapping Up
While VSCode might not be the official IDE for Swift and iOS development, with a little bit of setup, it can become a powerful tool in your development arsenal. So why not give it a try?
Top comments (4)
I have been using it for Version Control
That is great. I have been using it for my App development for years now. I feel it has lot more potentials when we can learn to create plugins and use it to unleash it real potentials
right now I can't find Swift for Visual Studio Code: This extension, by Kasik96, only by Kiad Studio LLC
could you tell us in more detail and show with screenshots how you work with VS Code which plugins and settings need to be installed? I really want to get away from XCode as much as possible