If you are willing
to develop a futuristic iOS app for your target audience, then Swift should be
your preferred choice. This is so because Swift iOS app development is cost-effective and requires less
coding efforts as the language is intuitive, easier to learn, and comes with several
advanced features and powerful tools. 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 several useful features offered by other new-age programming languages.
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 It soon superseded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 explore the key reasons why start-ups choose Swift for iOS app development 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 the 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 the 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 understand 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
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 manipulation of data and
text strings. This lets the Swift
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 the 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. Of course,
they need to hire dedicated iOS app developers for this. But in addition, Swift
has package managers that 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.
Similarly, 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 to
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 for iOS app development is preferred by 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. Unlike Swift, Objective-C
depends on C for its evolution. 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 which simplify the developers’ task.
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 ground ever since
Swift came into 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 can expect several upgrades of Swift in iOS app development in
the future.
Key Takeaways:
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, developing a Swift app for your business is the apt choice. So, in this competitive business
world, it is advisable for start-ups to opt for Swift and hire Swift app developers for building powerful,
immersive, and profitable iOS applications.
To know more
about our other core technologies, refer to links below
React Native App Development Company
Angular App Development Company
No comments:
Post a Comment