What is Swift Programming Language? Why Use It and Advantages

With the increasing demand of Apple products, the majority of entrepreneurs nowadays tend to invest in iOS app development. For now, there are literally two options available to build iOS mobile apps – the traditional Objective-C language and the contemporary Swift programming language.

Well, most programmers currently prefer to build an iOS app with Swift. Swift is a trendy coding language that is way easier to study and implement, plus it is secure and fast in nature. Therefore engineers prefer to go with Swift since it provides modern-day features. In this article, we will learn the basics of Swift programming language along with some key benefits that all entrepreneurs can gain by building an iOS app with Swift.

An Overview of Swift Programming Language

The Apple app store consists of 1.6 million apps during the third quarter of 2022. Designed by Apple, Swift is a multi-paradigm, general-purpose, compiled, and high-level coding language that first appeared in June 2014. One can make use of Swift to build products for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and so on. Swift programming language consists of a lot of modern characteristics that developers find prominent to work with.

Programmers can effortlessly make a great entry into the development world with Swift since it’s simpler to read and learn in corresponds with senior languages like Objective-C. That’s the major cause why Swift evolved into one of the most demanded programming languages. Not just that, but it is likewise consistent with Linux, windows, and more platforms. Swift has evolved tremendously since it comes into existence, and certainly, the developer’s community all around the globe continues to rise.

Use Cases of Swift Programming Language

If we talk about the use cases of Swift, then it occupies various development scenarios such as the iOS app, macOS app, tvOS, and watchOS.

iOS App Development

As we discussed above, when it comes to iOS app development, programmers have the option of utilizing either Objective-C or Swift. At present, most programmers prefer to work with Swift programming language since it offers a lot of modern attributes to work with trending concepts. Moreover, Apple once commented that Swift is up to 2.6 bits faster, analogized to Objective-C.

MacOS App Development

Mobile applications are not only enough to get business done; the demand for desktop apps is also on the rise. So for the desktop app purpose, you can utilize the traditional Objective-C, but at present, Swift is the two times more preferable option to go with. For sure, Swift performs smoothly to execute on macOS compared to Objective-C since it was designed in a way to do so.

TvOS & watchOS Development

Swift is also preferred for building apps for tvOS that execute on Apple TV. It is possible to create a flawless visual experience on tvOS applications. The current iOS app development trends move forward with wearable technology. Moreover, most of the people who own iPhones definitely enjoy investing in wearables such as smartwatches.

With such smart technologies, watches can provide biometric data of your body, such as heart rate, since it directly comes in touch with the body. Where 92% of smartwatch users stated they use smartwatches to maintain health. People can access various features directly through smartwatches. Programmers can utilize Swift to build watchOS apps that can operate with iPhones, allowing people to access info on hand even if their phone is not nearby.

Why to Go With Swift Over Objective-C?

Objective-C is still not out of fade, while some programmers prefer to work with it. Hence it leads to confusion about which language to utilize, the traditional Objective-C or the all-fresh Swift coding language. You can watch out for the below points that will clear your mind to pick Swift over Objective-C. Objective C was the first coding approach to build projects for the Apple platform. It was invented by Brad Cox and Tome Love in the year 1980. So yes, it’s a too-old coding language that has existed for so long.

Hence, as per the name, we can assume that the vision was originally obtained from the C programming language. Talking about Swift, well, it proposes a cutting-edge coding approach to meet the demands of the new era. It is an open-source coding language that supports development under various environments such as iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

• Protocols in Swift enable composing code components that can be implied to any type that coordinates to the protocol without comprehending the specific type. In contrast, categories on Objective-C run directly in compile time and can be utilized to augment the functionality of a precise type.
• The coding speed is way faster in Swift compared to Objective-C. Programmers can easily gain the speed of writing codes in Swift, but it can be a bit hard to compose codes in Objective-C due to its syntactical complexity.
• In a performance manner, Swift surely wins the race since its development structure and toolkit provide better performance compared to Objective-C. No doubt, Objective-C is fast, but somehow it got defeated by Swift.
• Objective C came into existence a long time ago; therefore, it’s fair to say that it consists of several resources. While Swift is quite a fresh concept in the market, thus it does not count many resources as the traditional language.
• Swift eliminated the need to compose a number of codes for repetitive statements. While in Objective – C, the task of working with text strings becomes very verbose and demands several steps to combine two pieces of data.

Advantages of iOS App Development For Businesses

Swift is an open-source coding language that is gaining rapid popularity around the globe. Swift programming language allows coders to write codes fasters for iOS, macOS, and other Apple platforms, which results in fewer bugs and decreases the chances of app crashes. Developing iOS apps for businesses can surely be the perfect option to achieve a large amount of audience depending on Apple’s system. Here are some significant benefits that businesses can gain by choosing Swift for iOS app development.

Faster development

Swift is a clean and expressive coding language that consists of simplified syntax that is easier to read and write. The ARC (Automatic Reference Counting) feature keeps an eye on managing the app’s memory usage. So programmers have to put less effort into executing such tasks manually. As a result, programmers can speed up the development process with Swift.

Open-Source

Being open source in nature, it becomes easier for programmers to upgrade all the source codes, bug trackers, and more at regular intermissions. And thanks to its robustness, coders can easily conduct the technical documentation process. At present, Swift has acquired a strong and supportive community, and one can leverage several third-party development toolkits.

Safety

Another great benefit Swift offer is its safe environment. It was designed in a way to be a type-safe and memory-safe coding language. Type-safe prevents any type errors, and the memory-safe function dodges exposures correlated to uninitialized pointers that could lead the program to crash. Consequently, entrepreneurs can get a safer app environment to launch their businesses on the digital market.

Eats Less Memory

When it comes to memory management, Swift again proves as a better option in comparison with Objective-C. Later objective-C had an object link that consumers some of the RAM of the computer. But that’s not the case in Swift since it’s a single object-oriented program that shited to structures. So the data type and SDK classes are also decreased, which beings helpful in saving more memory.

Multi-Faceted language

Again a great benefit Swift count on is that it has been developed with a multi-faceted language function. It allows programmers to understand the language and program thoroughly, which helps in crafting myriad types of mobile applications, including simple and complex concepts.

Optimal Language Programming

It is considered a top-class programming language invented by Apple that is constantly performing to enhance the experience of users. After all, it was launched after checking on several tests and additional prospects to be suitable for building business apps. The best part is that regular updates are available to improve the user-friendliness of the language.

Low Maintenance

For every enterprise, mobile app maintenance stands as the most crucial prospect. It becomes more necessary when a business archives a wide range of targeted audiences. Afterward, it becomes necessary to maintain consistency between your business and the consumers by offering fresh concepts.

Along with businesses, programmers as well have to keep up with the regular updates and implementations in order to take the app to the next level. However, all this stuff is possible with Swift programming language since its platform independent and demands low maintenance. At last, the important factor is to partner with a trustworthy iOS app development company that can grab the best out of the Swiit to build your project.

Conclusion

Leverage the influence of the modern language Swift, which stands for the best choice when it comes to building an iOS app, especially for enterprise solutions. No doubt there are some drawbacks too in Swift, but still, it is a fresh concept. Therefore, we might witness evolutions soon so that one can pick Swift over other options without any hassle. And it’s fair to forecast the future in favor of Swift, so let’s go forward with the change.

If you are an entrepreneur looking to build a robust iOS app for your business, we can help with that. At Elluminati, you can Hire iOS app developers who can provide profit-oriented outcomes to help you take your business to the next level.