Swift is a compiled programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and Linux programs. This article contains all the data you need to know about Swift.

Apple produced this in 2014 – Swift is set to surpass other programming languages for iOS development thanks to backing from one of the largest IT businesses in the world. This is the reason why organizations go for swift app development services.

• Open-source: Swift’s developers were aware that using open-source technologies was essential to building a programming language that would stand out from the crowd. As a result, throughout the course of its seven-year existence, Swift has accumulated a substantial user base and a plethora of third-party tools.
• Safe – Its sometimes-severe grammar forces you to produce logical, well-organized code. Swift features protections that help with readability and mistake avoidance.
• Fast: Swift was designed with performance in mind. Swift lives up to its name. Apple.com says it is up to 8.4 times faster than Python and 2.6 times faster than Objective-C. Its simple syntax and guidance also enable you to build software more rapidly.
• In–demand: Swift, which continues to outperform Objective C, was rated 20th among the most well-liked programming languages of 2021 and 8th among the most cherished languages (Objective C is ranked 25th). Swift is in high demand.

Swift Has Advantages in the Development of iOS Apps

It “combines the ease of use and interactivity of popular scripting languages with the performance and efficiency of compiled languages.” Instead of concentrating on technical or marketing details, let’s examine what it truly means from a business perspective.

1. Rapid Development Process

Because Swift is an expressive, straightforward language with simplified syntax and grammar, it is easier to read and write. It is far more succinct than Objective-C, which means that less code is required to carry out the same purpose. Since Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) monitors and controls the app’s memory consumption, developers may save time and effort. Because of this, developing iOS applications using Swift is often quicker.

The Lyft app does a fantastic job illustrating this benefit: The company’s iOS app was rewritten in Swift. With less than one-third of the previous codebase’s around 75,000 lines of code, the swift version recovered the same functionality.  

The app also has a new onboarding process that took only one developer a week to build as compared to numerous engineers and more than a month for the previous one.

2. Improved Performance, Rapid Development, and Safety

As its name suggests, Swift is designed to be swift. The language was first developed to outperform its predecessor, focusing on performance and speed. The first version, in particular, claimed over a 40% increase in performance over Objective-C.

The LLVM compiler system, which transforms assembly language into machine code and speeds up development, was also used to create Swift.

Numerous benchmarks and tests conducted by certain developers throughout time have shown that. The performance of Swift code may also be improved using a variety of methods.

Another benefit is the safety of Swift. The comprehensive type system and error handling prevent code crashes and production issues. Because of this, Swift has a smaller feedback loop, allowing you to find and fix code faults as you go. This removes the risks connected with delivering poor code, significantly decreasing the time and effort needed for bug repairs.

3. Interoperability with Objective-C –

Swift is the newest toy and is thought to be the Future, according to Jordan Morgan, an iOS developer at Buffer, in his Medium article. Swift is compatible with Objective-C. The popularity of Objective-C is dwindling and will ultimately fall sharply. But the two must learn to coexist peacefully now. Thus, there are two circumstances in which both might be used for the same project: You may either use Objective-C components in your new Swift project or incorporate Swift features into the existing Objective-C codebase.

Both Swift and Objective-C are fully compatible with one another and may be used interchangeably in the same project. This is very useful for expanding or upgrading large projects: Swift still enables the creation of new features using the same Objective-C codebase. Porting is thereby made more accessible and less risky.

4. Automatic memory management with ARC –

Swift utilizes Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), a technique created to provide iOS with a new garbage collector functionality. Languages like Java, C#, and Go employ garbage collectors to get rid of unneeded instances of classes. They are efficient at decreasing memory footprint, even though they may boost CPU by up to 20%. iOS developers had to manually manage memory and constantly check class retain numbers before ARC. When an instance is no longer required, Swift’s ARC locates it and disposes it on your behalf. It allows you to increase software performance without affecting RAM or CPU performance.

5. Full Stack Possibilities and Cross-Device Compatibility

IBM has aggressively encouraged the endeavor to put the language on the cloud, which has been mostly successful. Most of the frequently used backend technologies are integrated with Swift on the server. Like full-stack JavaScript development, using Swift for your app’s backend and front end offers significant code interchange and reuse, speeding up development and decreasing development costs.

Apple’s devices, including the Mac, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, were also supported. In addition to Apple’s platform, Windows and Linux are also supported.

Cons of Swift in iOS App Development

Swift still needs to improve, even though it appears to have a lot of supporters. Many developers and company owners need to be more need to be more cautious when it comes to switching to a new language. There are many reasons for it.

1. The language Is Still Relatively Young –

In comparison to Objective C, which has been around since the 1980s, Swift, which was initially presented to the public in 2014, is really just seven years old. Improved documentation, Swift version backward compatibility, and ABI stability across all of Apple’s platforms are all features of the most recent release. Those are essential steps toward the maturation of Swift as a language.

However, these actions—frequent updates and modifications—often cause developers to wonder if their project can even be built, much less whether their present code will be compatible with prior versions tomorrow.

2. A Lack of Compatibility with IDEs and Third-Party Tools

Finding the right tools to help with certain activities is usually challenging, primarily as a consequence of the rapid updates mentioned above. However, Swift tools and support are absent from the official Apple IDE, XCode. Developers commonly complain about syntax highlighting, autocomplete, refactoring tools, and compiler issues.

3. Incomplete Cross-Platform Compatibility

As was previously noted, Swift is compatible with Linux, Windows, and all Apple platforms. But as it was initially intended for native iOS development and still excels in that area, React Native, Xamarin, and Flutter dominate the cross-platform market.

Can Swift Change iOS Development in the Future? – Conclusion

Despite its young and the following criticism, Swift has already had a handful of remarkable achievements. Several companies, including Uber, Lyft, and Fitbit, have used the new language.

Swift matures with each new release, but problems remain to be fixed. While keeping a constant ABI across all of its platforms, Apple is creating its ecosystem, expanding platform support, and adding new features. Swift is one of the most promising languages that keeps gaining fans, as we can see from our assessment, since it has numerous advantages that outweigh its shortcomings.