If you are willing to develop
a futuristic iOS app for your target audience, then Swift should be
your preferred choice. It is cost-effective, has advanced features,
has more powerful tools, requires less coding efforts as the language
is intuitive and thus easier to learn. This modern programming
language is going to survive for long due to the plethora of benefits
that it offers, as compared to its old competitor, Objective-C.
Earlier,
Objective-C was principally used for building iOS applications.
However, it became out-dated slowly due to the lack of many valuable
features that other new-age programming languages had. Apple Corp had
worked on Objective-C improvements for almost 6 years and understood
that a better language could be introduced for writing mobile
applications. Due to such loopholes of Objective-C, Apple introduced
an advanced language in 2014- Swift which had pioneering features to
accelerate the iOS
app development.
Swift
is general-purpose, multi-paradigm, and compiled language. It is a
fast, safe and interactive language specially developed for iOS,
macOS, Linux, tvOS and watchOS. It soon superseded Objective-C and
became the favorite of developers across the world. Several giants
like LinkedIn, IBM, Facebook, Mozilla, Uber, etc. were already using
Swift but now, even start-ups have started focussing on it.
In
this blog, we will look at the key reasons why start-ups choose Swift
instead of Objective-C.
Top
Reasons why Start-ups Prefer Swift over Objective-C
Swift is quite successful
today not only because it is feature-rich and well-structured, but
also due to a huge support of millions of people, globally. Its
independently managed conferences enhance the Swift community. Also,
there are two main differences between Swift and Objective-C:
- Swift isn’t a superset of C, so, it can freely make use of syntax constructs. This enables implementation of custom operators
- Swift is not dynamically typed but it is statically typed, due to which it can take benefit of a number of recent advancements in the type systems.
Let
us know in detail about what more is there for start-ups to prefer
Swift over Objective-C.
Open-Source
and Fast-Growing Language
Swift
is the fastest-growing open-source language and has great potential.
It can be immediately accessible to anyone and the start-ups can take
advantage of this. Also, Swift can be applied across several
platforms and backend infrastructure as well since it is open-source.
It is also available on Linux and efforts are being made to bring it
to Windows. Swift receives feedback from the iOS app development
community to make
improvements to get more structured. Comparatively, Objective-C isn’t
an open-source language and also becoming out-dated gradually.
Less
Coding Efforts and Less Prone to Errors
Swift
is a functional programming language and allows passing functions as
variables. It also allows manipulating of data and text strings. This
lets the Swift app developers develop generic code which reduces the
coding efforts to a great extent. So, writing, reading and modifying
the code is easier in Swift which ensures better readability. Also,
this language has smaller code lengths due to the use of a feature
called- Type interface. This feature helps to avoid incorrect coding
and provides less error-prone code.
When
a null optional variable is used in Swift, a run-time crash is
triggered instantaneously. Due to its consistent behavior, this crash
forces the bug-fixing process and so, the bugs get fixed instantly.
As a result, even the development time reduces.
However,
in Objective-C, complete code needs to be written every time there is
a change in code. So, it needs extensive coding and has greater
execution time.
Shorter
Time-to-Market
Shorter
time-to-market is a critical factor for start-ups. What they want is
good-quality products in less time. Swift has package managers which
allow the developers to focus on the logic, push their packages for
collaboration with others, and use different packages for quickly
assembling the applications while significantly reducing the
time-to-market.
There
are many other speed-based advantages that Swift offers over
Objective-C apps while developing iOS apps due to which start-ups
prefer Swift.
Highly
Safe and Secure
Safety
and security is a very important factor while developing mobile apps.
Swift has an all-inclusive Security Framework having several APIs
that handle authorization services, certificates, keys, trust
policies, etc. Some APIs are also used to apply cryptography
encryption on the messages. Also, as discussed earlier, the use of a
nil optional variable makes the bug-fixing process easier and
immediate.
Syntax
in Swift forces the coders to write a clean and consistent code. It
not only saves time but also supports the safety of the apps, though
it may feel strict sometimes. The way Swift handles the bugs ensures
safer applications as compared to Objective-C.
Needs
less Maintenance
Swift
is a preferred choice of start-ups for one more significant reason.
This programming language doesn’t have any legacy code and so,
needs lesser maintenance as compared to Objective-C. Objective-C
depends on C for its evolution, however, Swift is not. In C, iOS app
developers need to maintain and manage two separate code files- (.h)
header file and (.m) implementation file, for better efficiency and
building time of the app. The same legacy is carried forward by
Objective-C, which can be cumbersome to manage at times. In the case
of Swift, only one single file- (.swift) needs to be maintained,
making the overall maintenance quite easier.
Has
a Bright Future
Swift
is a well-designed and well-organized programming language. It
provides an enhanced development process along with some excellent
features while making the job of the developers easier.
Though
Swift has emerged just a couple of years ago, yet it has made a
tremendous evolution. Undoubtedly, Objective-C won’t vanish from
the market but it has definitely started losing its place since Swift
came in the picture. Also, it is evident from the conferences held by
Apple and its software releases that Apple is going to develop Swift
with some amazing features. So, we will be seeing a lot of upgrades
of Swift
in iOS app development
in the upcoming future.
Swift
and Objective-C are the two most high-end Apple programming
languages. However, Swift supersedes Objective-C in many ways. It is
clean, expressive, and intuitive as compared to Objective-C. Also,
when it comes to cost-savings, Swift is the apt choice. So, in this
competitive business world, start-ups can opt for Swift and build
outstanding iOS applications for their success.
Hope
this blog helped you to understand the importance of Swift over
Objective-C. If you still have some queries, contact Biz4Solutions,
one of the leading Swift app development services in Texas. We can
help!