How is Swift Programming Language Better than Objective-C?

Swift programming language entered into iOS app development 3 years back and has captured the market since then. Swift was introduced to overcome the problem of developers for building iOS apps. This is a compiled programming language developed by Apple Inc. for developing apps for operating systems of iOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS and Linux. This multi-paradigm language works on Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks. For building apps other than based on Linux, it uses the Objective-C runtime library to allow C, Objective-C, C++ and Swift code to run within one program.

Reasons to Choose Swift for Building iOS Apps

Apple Inc. is a leader in the technology market. It stays at the forefront of new advancements and rapidly adapts emerging technologies. In the latest release of iOS 11 and ARKit, Apple is seen taking a stride into the world of Augmented Reality. Such emerging technologies are bringing iOS app development to a new height in terms of swiftness and usability.

Choosing the latest and most advanced technology stack plays an important role in building unique, innovative and high performing apps. Objective C has long been used by developers until the advent of Swift, which marks the dawn of a new era in the world of iOS apps.

Swift programming language has been a matter of controversy and criticism since its launch until developers realized its inert potential. Now this language has emerged as the most popular programming language helping developers to create the next-generation apps with the amalgamation of emerging technologies like IoT, AR, Cloud and Blockchain. Objective-C programming may not help in integration of such advanced technologies as easily as Swift does! This potential of Swift has won the hearts of developers.

Swift is supposed to grow faster because of the combined efforts of the iOS developers’ community. Several developers are adopting Swift and transferring their projects from Objective-C to Swift. Though Objective-C would not lose its existence so soon, both languages will continue to coexist in the iOS ecosystem.

Benefits of Choosing Swift Programming Language

High Performance

Swift, as the name suggests, is the fastest and lightweight language ever launched for the development of iOS apps. To understand the speed and agility of Swift, consider the following statement of Apple: ‘Swift is more than 2.6 times faster than Objective-C ‘.

A small difference in speed is quite crucial that helps in improving in performance to define the success of the product. This aspect is especially important for business applications that need to handle heavy computations. This is the reason why Swift is the first choice for building fast and efficient consumer-facing apps.

Increased Developer Productivity

Swift programming language is quite similar to English, clear and concise. Swift has all the necessary tooling to build a complete developer’s ecosystem. This programming language gives developers an option to review the code instantly through Swift Playgrounds. This reduces development time and efforts of developers. For some extraordinary features such as these, Stack Overflow Developer survey names Swift remains one of the top most loved programming languages.

Error Handling

Developers using Swift can utilize the advanced error handling for preventing to make mistakes that most commonly occur in Objective-C. All the flaws are highlighted in the development stage itself, unlike Objective-C where errors go unnoticed and later lead to problems. The repetitive feedback loop helps in knowing about the mistakes through compiler errors and can be instantly fixed.

This helps in getting error free output with fewer crashes and bugs in production. It also reduces the work during testing phases and helps on optimizing time and efforts of developers.

Future-Proof

As Swift is Apple’s latest programming language release, it has the required the tools and the resources to build apps for every device in the Apple ecosystem. This means that developers can build apps for all Apple devices including Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and even Apple Watch without worrying about the compatibility and the potential of the hardware.

Open-Source Ecosystem

Swift is growing at quite a rapid pace, thanks to a large number of contributors. It is several open source tools, libraries, and frameworks that speeds up development effort and saves time and money. As Swift is not just limited to iOS, it is being used for Linux applications too and experts look at it as a programming language for Android too in the near future.

On a Concluding Note…

Though a relatively new language, Swift has already won the hearts of developers and is being extensively used by several companies. If you are wondering when to choose iOS Swift app development services, following are a few use cases that would help to understand:

• Enterprise Apps: Swift is the best choice for creating enterprise applications that re feature-rich and fully functional.
• Consumer Apps: Swift language is the best choice when thinking of building apps with good speed and performance.
• Multi-Device Support: When you want an app to run on multiple devices without any compatibility issue, Swift is the right choice.

Hidden Brains is a leading Swift app development company helping businesses build highly innovative apps as per the client’s requirements and specifications.

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Albert Smith

Albert Smith, a seasoned Marketing Manager, brings expertise in strategizing and executing innovative marketing campaigns at Hidden Brains. With a keen eye for industry trends, Albert is dedicated to driving brand visibility and success in the ever-evolving tech landscape. His passion lies in leveraging marketing strategies to showcase Hidden Brains' excellence in web, mobile app, and software development.