Aviva Directory » Computers & Internet » Programming » Swift

The focus of this category is on the Swift programming language, developed by Apple in 2014. Originally proprietary, the language is now available through the Apache License.

Designed to work with Apple's Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, and the large body of Objective-C code written for Apple products, Swift has been included in Xcode since version 6, released in 2014. Swift uses the Objective-C runtime library, which allows C, C++, Objective C, and Swift code to run within the same program.

Development on Swift began in 2010, with Chris Lattner as the lead designer. The language was influenced by C#, CLU, D, Haskell, Objective-C, Python, Ruby, and Rust.

In 2015, the language, its supporting libraries, debugger, and package manager were open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license with a Runtime Library Exception, and Swift.org was created to host the project. The source code is hosted on GitHub.

In 2019, Apple announced SwiftUI, providing a framework for declarative UI structure design across all Apple platforms.

Swift is an alternative to the Objective-C language, employing modern programming concepts with the goal of achieving a simple syntax. During its early development, it was referred to as "Objective-C without the C."

Open-source projects to port the language to the web include Kitura, Perfect, and Vapor. Apple and the Swift developer community have established a working group to design an official server API. Another free implementation of Swift is part of the Elements Compiler from RemObjects Software, targeting Cocoa, Microsoft's .NET, and the Java and Android platforms.

Websites focused on the Swift programming language, any of its implementations, compilers, or other tools designed to facilitate the use of the language are appropriate topics for this category, as are Swift user groups, forums, and tutorials.

 

 

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