Advanced iOS Development: The Benefits of Using Swift

Introduction

Mobile preferences in the United States diverge significantly from those in other regions. While Android smartphones dominate most parts of the world, the iPhone enjoys immense popularity among Americans.

Bankmycell’s data reveals that the Android operating system holds a dominant position on the global chart, boasting a market share of 71.63%, while iOS lags behind with a comparatively smaller market share of 27.71%.

Contrasting the global trend, the situation in the US market is completely different, with Apple commanding the majority with an impressive market share of 57.22%.

Considering the enduring loyalty of numerous individuals toward Apple devices, the significance of iOS app development has reached new heights. The crucial decision lies in selecting the appropriate tech stack for your product. If you opt for native development over cross-platform solutions, another choice awaits: whether to utilize the tried-and-true Objective-C or embrace the innovative Swift language.

Also Read – 7 Things to Consider While Choosing iOS Developer for Your Business

What is Swift and its features?

Swift, an open-source programming language, is widely utilized for developing applications across multiple platforms such as iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iOS. It is known for its versatility and serves as a general-purpose language supporting various programming paradigms.

In 2014, Apple introduced Swift, a programming language purposefully crafted to equip developers with a formidable toolset for creating iOS applications. According to Apple, Swift prioritizes safety, speed, and expressiveness, while also aiming to supersede C-based languages.

Swift, being a relatively recent programming language, undergoes continuous evolution, accompanied by a thriving community that continues to expand. The source code of Swift is openly available on GitHub, enabling accessibility for all interested individuals.

Core Features of Swift

There are numerous features that Swift offers, here are some of them:

Safety

Swift emphasizes safety by enforcing strong typing and eliminating common programming errors like null pointer exceptions. It introduces optionals, which help developers handle values that may be absent, reducing the chances of runtime crashes.

Readability and Expressiveness

Swift is designed to be concise and expressive, allowing developers to write clear and readable code. It includes modern language features like type inference, closures, and generics that enhance code expressiveness.

Type Safety and Inference

Swift is a statically-typed language that performs extensive type-checking during compilation, ensuring code reliability. It also supports type inference, allowing developers to omit type annotations in many cases, leading to cleaner code.

Interoperability

Swift is designed to seamlessly work with existing Objective-C code. It can call Objective-C APIs directly and vice versa, enabling developers to leverage existing libraries and frameworks.

Memory Management

Swift manages memory automatically using Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), which automatically tracks and releases memory when objects are no longer needed. Developers do not need to manually allocate or deallocate memory.

Error Handling

Swift introduces a robust error-handling mechanism using try-catch blocks. It allows developers to write safer code by explicitly handling and propagating errors, making it easier to identify and address potential issues.

Playgrounds

Swift provides interactive playgrounds, allowing developers to experiment and test code snippets in real time. Playgrounds provide a visual representation of code execution, making it easier to learn and explore Swift features.

Concurrency

Swift 5.5 introduced structured concurrency, enabling developers to write concurrent code more easily. It provides constructs like async/await and actors, simplifying the handling of asynchronous tasks and improving performance.

Advantages of Choosing Swift for iOS app development

Explore the primary factors that drive the widespread preference of mobile app development companies worldwide in choosing Swift for mobile development.

Data management

The foremost benefit provided by Swift is its capability to efficiently handle data processing. By utilizing LLVM for optimizing native codes and operating platforms, this programming language enables developers to rewrite multiple collections as structures, resulting in improved performance and speed.

As a result, Swift is quicker than Objective-C.

Makes it Easy to code

While programming languages for app development often come with complex and extensive command lines for intricate solutions, Swift stands out with its concise nature. This characteristic reduces the lines of code (LOC), enhancing programming efficiency and speed.

With fewer lines of code required for complex tasks, Swift promotes high code reusability, resulting in significant time savings for developers. They can easily recall and utilize specific sections of code without modifications, not only within the same project but also across different projects.

Linux development

One major benefit of Swift is its ability to facilitate the development of cross-platform applications for both iOS and Linux. This advantage becomes particularly significant when considering the opportunities it provides in the Linux environment where Objective-C is not supported.

Maintenance

Objective-C, which was previously widely employed for iOS app development, encountered a significant hurdle in terms of language evolution. Due to its reliance on being a subset of the C language, the ability of Objective-C to evolve was limited and contingent on the progress of the C language itself.

Consequently, iOS app developers faced the challenge of managing two separate files to enhance build time and efficiency. However, with the advent of Swift, they now have the ability to merge the Objective-C header (.h) and implementation files (.m) into a single code file (.swift), streamlining the development process and simplifying code management.

Objective-C presented the inconvenience of developers having to manually synchronize method names and comments across various files. In contrast, Swift programmers can utilize this saved time to focus on creating app logic, enhancing code quality, and engaging in various other tasks.

Swift is surprisingly fast

As previously mentioned, Swift is renowned for its exceptional speed, which translates to highly efficient algorithm calculations and significantly faster language operations.

By leveraging Swift, developers gain the advantage of utilizing generics and higher-order functions, enabling the creation of clean and reusable code, ultimately leading to significant time savings.

Exceptionally interactive

One of the major advantages Swift offers to mobility service providers is its ability to function within an interactive environment. This allows developers to observe the output in real time while coding, facilitating a more efficient and streamlined development process. That means any error in coding can be seen and rectified in the coding stage itself.

In the event that you have any loops in the code you are writing, you can easily observe them in the timeline panel where variable calculations are displayed.

Open-source

The declaration of Swift as an open-source language in 2015 brought about significant transformations to its landscape. Following this declaration, Apple extended the permissible use of Swift to encompass a wide range of purposes.

With the open-source declaration of Swift, iOS app developers gained convenience in upgrading their codebases, tracking bugs, and establishing email lists. Moreover, Apple has actively sought feedback from the community and made corresponding improvements. Notably, Swift also extends its support to Linux-based platforms, presenting a multitude of opportunities in this domain.

Due to all these reasons, Swift is the most preferred choice for iPhone app developers.

Better safety

Swift’s advanced typing system and error-handling capabilities significantly reduce the occurrence of errors compared to Objective-C. This emphasis on safety highlights the paramount importance of developing a robust language.

Thanks to the short feedback loops and the error tracking capability, developers can instantly identify errors in their code.

Features of Playground

Swift provides a dynamic and exploratory environment known as a Playground, which allows programmers to experiment with new algorithms without the need to build a complete application. In addition, iOS introduces inline code execution, enabling coders to develop extensive code or algorithms while receiving immediate feedback throughout the process. This iterative approach enhances the Swift application development experience and promotes efficient coding practices.

By leveraging data visualizations, the feedback provided in Swift’s Playground environment can greatly enhance the speed at which code is written. This amalgamation of Swift and Playgrounds reflects Apple’s commitment to simplifying and making the development process more accessible for mobile app development companies.

Avoids memory congestion

Swift offers dynamic library support, which makes it very light. Since there is no static memory in Swift, this makes it free from the issue of memory clogging.

Furthermore, dynamic libraries typically have a single instance, leading to a significant reduction in footprint.

Final Thoughts

With its status as a relatively new programming language, Swift incorporates valuable elements from Objective-C while introducing a range of new features. This combination empowers developers to craft code that is safer and more dependable. Swift’s rapid rise in popularity has established it as the go-to language for building captivating and user-friendly mobile applications.

Despite being a relatively new programming language, the tremendous momentum Swift has gained within a short period is unparalleled. It is crucial for iOS developers and aspiring learners of Swift to grasp one fundamental aspect.

At Bytes Technolab, which is an iOS app development company, you have the option to solicit a quote for your Swift project. Our team, comprising experienced and highly qualified professionals, will engage in detailed discussions about your requirements and deliver an application within the shortest timeframe achievable.

Get in touch today to hire our dedicated iPhone developer or build your own remote team.