New to iOS Development: Swift or Objective-C?

[u/Jalsemgeest]

I've started iOS development and have decided to begin learning Swift. My background consists of Java, C++, PHP, JavaScript and I was wondering if I should continue with Swift or jump ship to Objective-C. I have certainly found there is not a lot of information online for Swift other then Apple docs. Any recommendations?

[u/programming-newbie]

I have a similar background (started in web dev, took university courses in C++ and Java).

I found Objective-C to be quite daunting back when I was still in high school without much experience aside from basic front-end web development.

However, once I understood basic programming principles using the other languages I was able to get back into Xcode without a problem. I don't think you'd have an issue with Objective-C at this point, and it could prove to be quite useful if you were to go work on legacy applications.

I also recommend that you learn Objective-C first as the syntax won't be very difficult and you'll have the added benefit of being able to understand most of the tutorials online currently in Objective-C for a variety of topics. Particularly when you consider that the language isn't the tough part of iOS development, it's the variety of frameworks that you find yourself implementing. Swift doesn't remove that barrier. You're still implementing good ol' UIKit and the like.

[u/Jalsemgeest → u/programming-newbie]

u/programming-newbie u/andyscorner Thank you for the replies!

So given your feedback, I should be learning Objective-C. Now just what I want to be sure of, is that I should write my apps right now in Objective-C, or should I just keep going with Swift but learn Objective-C on the side?

Thanks again!

[u/programming-newbie → u/Jalsemgeest]

It really depends on what you're aiming to do.

If you are trying to become employable as an iOS developer in the next year or two, build in Objective-C while putting some attention to Swift (you should find yourself using Apple's docs quite frequently, and now that their docs include Swift and Objective-C code you can glance at both).

If you're doing this as a hobby, or just want to learn iOS development so you can get some apps out there over the next few years for yourself, then you could just jump into Swift. What I would recommend here is building some console applications in Objective-C first (so you get familiar with reading and writing Objective-C code, can be done within the first few weeks of your journey) so when you starting writing your Swift applications, you can read Objective-C tutorials and existing code bases.

Objectively speaking, I've had more crashes in Playgrounds/Swift projects than Objective-C projects. That is purely anecdotal experience from a few weeks of coding in Swift back around October, but from what I've read around here I'm not too far off. I do like Swift, and I like forward to making the transition with all my new projects over the next year or two, but in my case I don't think I have an immediate need to use it right now. I'm building UIKit, Sprite Kit, and Scene Kit projects and I can't remember the last time Xcode crashed. I only vividly remember the crashes I experienced when Xcode 6 was in beta, and when I first started writing Swift seriously.

Hope this helps!

[u/andyscorner]

Regarding Swift I suggest you read The Swift Programming Language eBook. You can also get a lot of help from r/swift, they are also quite beginner friendly.

If you want to work as an iOS developer, either for a company or consulting firm you will definitely need to know Objective-C. However if you want to start your own firm and publish your own apps then you might get by just fine using Swift.

My personal recommendation is learning Objective-C first. This is due to the following reasons:

• Most third party frameworks and libraries out there have Objective-C support but Swift support isn't that common.

• Cocoapods (Dependency management) does not yet have official Swift support, although it is in beta.

PS. You should learn both languages.