During Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in 2014, Apple introduced Swift, a new programming language for developing apps for the OS X and iOS platform. Since then, Swift has grown and has become popular for developers creating apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch and Mac.
What is a Programming Language?
A programming language is what developers use to write apps and software. There are many programming languages out there are they are all used for specific things. For example, HTML and CSS are for creating websites, while Objective-C and Swift are for applications. Most programming languages have been in existence for several years.
Swift2 - An Open Source Language
At this year's WWDC, Swift received a few updates. The most significant update to Swift was Apple making the language open source. An open source programming language means that developers can contribute to the features and code of the programming language. This was a huge announcement from Apple. With Swift becoming an open source programming language, the language should rapidly improve and grow over time as developers contribute to it.
Swift's Similarity to Other Languages
Previously, Objective-C was the go-to language that developers used when programming apps for iOS and OS X, with some help of other programming languages as well. Swift has made programming easier and for some it is more inviting to learn how to code. Since Swift is designed by Apple for Apple hardware and software, it is an incredibly efficient language that boasts incredible compatibility for Apple devices.
Swift is closely based on the Objective-C language, so developers who already know Objective-C should not have an incredibly difficult time learning Swift.
If you want to learn more about the advanced features of Swift or if you are interested in learning about developing apps for the iOS, OS X, or watchOS, visit developer.apple.com. It will be exciting to see what developers can create with Swift as it grows and becomes more popular!