Swift is a new programming language created by Apple initially to supplement Objective-C and modernize Apple’s programming language offerings, but as of 2021, is ultimately looking like a replacement to Objective-C at least for front-end development by third-party app developers. Objective-C likely still has a long life, as Apple has yet to update its own Frameworks to be written in Swift. While Apple hasn’t announced plans to sunset the Objective-C language (in fact, Apple is still updating it), Swift is rapidly overtaking Objective-C to become more popular on Apple’s platforms. SEE: 31 Mac keyboard shortcuts business users need to know (free PDF) (TechRepublic) How does Swift differ from Objective-C? Swift has grown tremendously since its inception and introduction at WWDC 2014, and the developer community around this language continues to grow. This is one reason it’s becoming the singular programming language for Apple Platforms (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS) and beyond as it’s compatible with Linux, servers and more. Swift is a language that is easier to learn and easier to read, giving it a lower barrier of entry when compared with older languages like Objective-C. Swift is available in the most recent versions of Xcode and can be used to build apps from iOS 7 or later, and macOS devices dating back to Mac OS X 10.9 or later. Swift is based around modern practices that are also seen in other modern programming languages like JavaScript, Ruby and Kotlin. Swift is a new programming language from Apple, built by Apple, that builds on the techniques learned in Objective-C, but modernizes them to include shorter syntax and easier readability, maintainability and safety to prevent crashes. SEE: Apple’s Swift programming language: Cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic) What is Swift?

Swift 1.0 was released in September 2014. Swift is more than 2.6x faster than Objective-C and more than 8.4x faster than Python. In 2010, Apple started developing Swift, a new programming language that would rival Objective-C in a few areas–specifically, type safety, security, and better on-hardware performance. Objective-C called NeXT and Apple home where it was the default programming language for NeXTSTEP, OS X and iOS. It started as a programming language that bundled object-oriented programming (OOP) with the likeness of the C programming language. Objective-C has won the hearts of many developers.

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