Developed by Apple and released in 2014, Swift was originally intended as a language primarily for Apple. This open-source, general-purpose language has been gaining popularity since its inception. Several factors drive Swift ahead, such as faster and easier development, runtime safety, and fast performance, among others.

Key Factors that Make Swift a Much Sought-After Programming Language

Swift is a ground-breaking programming language not only for iOS but also for OS X and watchOS. It enables developers to develop apps that can run flawlessly. Secure and safe coding is ensured, and it becomes possible to create a protected environment, facilitating stable solutions.

The following are a few of the major factors that drive Swift ahead of other programming languages:

Ease of reading and writing:

With a clear syntax, Swift proves to be a lot easier to read and write when compared with most other languages. The code is concise, making the software developed using Swift run quickly and smoothly. Coding in Swift is simple and clean. It mimics plain English text, making it easy for developers to understand it and save time.

Safety and stability:

Developing mobile apps with Swift warrants absolute safety. This modern and powerful programming language is considered very safe, thanks to its error-handling capability and enhanced typing system. Developers can see the coding errors instantly.

The exclusive speed advantage:

One of the crucial reasons why Swift is so popular among iOS developers is its speed advantage in the developing as well as testing phases. The cost and time of app development are considerably reduced. Swift is in fact one of the fastest development languages. It enables developers to make use of high-order functions and generics, thus rendering the code clean and re-usable.

Swift is highly interactive:

Working in an interactive environment, Swift allows developers to view the output just as they are coding. Errors, if any, can be seen and corrected during the coding stage itself. The Playground feature in Swift facilitates testing new algorithms in real-time. This feature, commonly known as Read-Eval-Print-Loop (REPL) proves very effective and useful in learning, experimenting, as well as quick prototyping. This makes app development more obtainable and accessible.

Ease of maintenance:

Unlike Objective-C that depends on C, Swift is not dependent; it is relatively easy to maintain. Swift, by combining the two code files of C and Objective-C into a single code file called .swift. This makes it easy to handle and manage. Developers get more time to plan the app logic and improve the code quality, thus making the app run effortlessly.

Open-source language:

Swift was announced to be an open-source language by Apple in 2015. Enabling developers to make use of it freely, and saving the cost of iOS app development for small and large scale businesses, Swift has since then been getting increasingly popular.

Safe memory management:

Swift supports Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) across all the APIs. This ensures not only fewer efforts to maintain memory but also faster app development process. The automated memory management in Swift helps to prevent common programming mistakes as well.

Wrap-up

Swift, with its several benefits, has become the programming language of choice by modern app developers. Choosing this programming language ensures robust, engaging, and secure iOS applications. Icanio Technologies is a leading iOS app development company that specializes in creating attractive and useful apps in short TAT.