Have you fallen quickly for the programming language Swift? The crowd of iOS developers who want to make apps is always confused about which programming languages to use.
Objective C programming language is a tough rival to Swift, but Swift's features have made it easy for programmers. iOS is one of the most popular mobile platforms, and the community is always looking for strategic ways to use the programming language.
If you are a business owner who doesn't know whether to use the old Objective C language or the new Swift language to make iOS apps, we are happy to help. Today, we will talk about the pros and cons of using the Swift programming language.
What is Swift Programming Language
In 2014, Apple added Swift as a second official programming language for macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and iOS. A year later, Swift became an open-source language. Currently, there are 4 official versions of Swift: 1.1, 1.2, 2.0, and 3.0. Update 19/09/2017: The fifth entry, Swift 4.0, came out on September 19, 2017.
Swift is a new programming language, but it has already moved from being "Apple's experiment" to number 11 on TIOBE's list of the world's most popular programming languages. Swift is 7 places higher on the list than its predecessor, Objective-C, which shows that it has done its first job. That is, getting the trust of the many developers who had been using a tried-and-true language for 30 years and getting them to invest in something new.
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Pros of using Swift for iOS development:
Swift is open source
You know what they say: it is good to learn from your own mistakes, but it is even better to learn from other people's mistakes. Also, the Swift developers' community helps almost immediately, saving a lot of time and money that would otherwise be spent fixing bugs in the code or figuring out why the result is not as good as expected.
Since December 2015, Swift has been open source, which means that anyone can use it. Developers of all skill levels can easily access the community's knowledge bases, help fix bugs, share their solutions, etc. Check out Swift's official community rules to learn more about how this works.
Faster Development
Swift is exactly what its name says it is. Apple says that Swift makes it possible to make apps up to 2.6 times faster than with Objective-C and up to 8.4 times faster than with Python 2.7. These numbers are amazing. Because of the LLVM tool, the machine and assembly codes are the same. The development process moves faster when it runs instructions written in native machine code. Swift also lets programmers use value types everywhere, among other things.
Safety
Swift, unlike Objective-C, is strongly and statically typed. This means that developers can find bugs before the code is compiled and fix them on the fly. Swift also has smart safety measures for nil-pointers that stop errors from compiling because of null references.
Great Readability, Easy Maintenance
Swift code is easy to read and understand because its syntax is easier to understand. Compared to Objective-C, it takes less code to make an app that works, which makes the coding process less stressful. Swift got rid of some old rules (like semicolons, method calls that sit on top of each other, etc.) and added a syntax that is much easier for people to understand.
Swift has a great benefit when it comes to maintenance. Swift is different from Objective-C in that all the header (.h) and implementation (.m) files are kept in a single file. With Objective-C, developers must take care of two code files (.swift).
Cons of using Swift for iOS development
Well, when the pros of the Swift programming language are so great, it is easy to forget about the sad things about it. But it's also important to know about the sad things ahead of time, so they don't hit you hard.
The newness of language
If we look at Objective C and Swift, two popular programming languages, Swift came out in 2014 and Objective C in the 1980s. There is no doubt that the pool of resources makes it easy for developers to learn the new language, but there is still room to grow and change.
Also, it only has a few native libraries and tools, making it hard to make apps because the language is so new.
A small number of developers:
Yes, the Swift community is growing and changing quickly, but at the moment, there are not that many developers who know everything there is to know about Swift.
If we believe the results of the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, only 6.6% of the 87,354 people who filled it out use Swift. Well, there is no reason to be sad about this number; it will go up in a flash.
Lack of compatibility with older iOS versions and languages:
The fact that Swift can be used for iOS 7 and above might come as a surprise. Swift is useless for legacy projects that work with iOS 6 or earlier. Even with the help of XCode, the programming language is unstable for newer versions and cannot fix problems.
Also, Read this - How to convert an android app to iOS and Vice Versa [Fundamentals]
Conclusion
Despite its early age and the controversy that comes with it, Swift has already had many big successes. Uber, Lyft, and Fitbit are some companies that chose the new language. Swift is getting better with every update, but things still need to be fixed. Apple is building its ecosystem by giving its platforms a stable ABI, improving platform support, and adding new features.
So, we think that Swift will continue to be used increasingly, which could soon mean that Objective-C will no longer be the best first-class language for making iOS mobile apps. It is important for business owners to be ready for any changes the market might bring. So, one of the most important things to do in the near future should be to get ready to switch to the new language with as little trouble and cost as possible.
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