#Os x programming swift code

Traditionally, in Objective-C, if a value was returned from a method, it was the programmer’s responsibility to document the behavior of the pointer variable returned (using comments and method-naming conventions).

#Os x programming swift code

Problems can be fixed as code is written, which greatly reduces the amount of time and money that you will spend on fixing bugs related to pointer logic from Objective-C. This creates a short feedback loop and allows programmers to code with intention. Optional types make the possibility of a nil optional value very clear in Swift code, which means it can generate a compiler error as you write bad code. A no-op leads to unpredictable behavior, which is the enemy of programmers trying to find and fix a random crash or stop erratic behavior. The expression or line of code becomes a no-operation (no-op), and while it might seem beneficial that it doesn’t crash, it has been a huge source of bugs. In Objective-C, nothing happens if you try to call a method with a pointer variable that is nil (uninitialized). One interesting aspect of Objective-C is the way in which pointers-particularly nil (null) pointers-are handled.

Swift cuts out boilerplate work and improves the quality of code, comments, and features that are supported. With Swift, programmers do less bookkeeping and can spend more time creating app logic. Xcode and the LLVM compiler can do work behind the scenes to reduce the workload on the programmer. In Objective-C you have to manually synchronize method names and comments between files, hopefully using a standard convention, but this isn’t guaranteed unless the team has rules and code reviews in place. Objective-C’s two-file system imposes additional work on programmers-and it’s work that distracts programmers from the bigger picture. Swift combines the Objective-C header (.h) and implementation files (.m) into a single code file (.swift). As a result, the repetitive task of separating the table of contents (header file) from the body (implementation file) is a thing of the past. Xcode and the LLVM compiler can figure out dependencies and perform incremental builds automatically in Swift 1.2. C requires programmers to maintain two code files in order to improve the build time and efficiency of the executable app creation, a requirement that carries over to Objective-C. Legacy is what holds Objective-C back-the language cannot evolve without C evolving. This readability makes it easier for existing programmers from JavaScript, Java, Python, C#, and C++ to adopt Swift into their tool chain-unlike the ugly duckling that was Objective-C. Swift code more closely resembles natural English, in addition to other modern popular programming languages. The result is a cleaner, more expressive language with a simplified syntax and grammar. Method and function calls in Swift use the industry-standard comma-separated list of parameters within parentheses. Another large change is that method calls do not nest inside each other resulting in bracket hell-bye-bye, ]]. Swift drops legacy conventions. Thus, you no longer need semicolons to end lines or parenthesis to surround conditional expressions inside if/else statements. Because Swift isn’t built on C, it can unify all the keywords and remove the numerous symbols in front of every Objective-C type or object-related keyword. To differentiate keywords and types from C types, Objective-C introduced new keywords using the symbol. Objective-C suffers all the warts you’d expect from a language built on C. Here are 10 reasons to get ahead of the game by starting to work with Swift now. While Apple hasn’t stated all its goals for the language yet, the launches of Xcode 6, Playgrounds, and Swift together signal Apple’s intent to make app development easier and more approachable than with any other development tool chain. It has optimized the compiler for performance and the language for development, and it alludes to Swift being “designed to scale from ‘hello, world’ to an entire operating system” in Swift’s documentation. Īpple appears to have big goals for Swift. Thanks to several key features, Swift has the potential to become the de-facto programming language for creating immersive, responsive, consumer-facing applications for years to come. If you’re developing apps for mobile devices and you haven’t investigated Swift, take note: Swift will not only supplant Objective-C when it comes to developing apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and devices to come, but it will also replace C for embedded programming on Apple platforms.

Programming languages don’t die easily, but development shops that cling to fading paradigms do.