Apple's new Swift coding language hopes to lock down errors. (Die Objective-C!!!)

CNet ^ | June 2, 2014 12:16 PM PDT | Seth Rosenblatt

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Apple's new programming language Swift promises to be easier and faster to code with and more secure.

Swift promises to blaze past Objective-C and Python, with complex object sort 3.9 times faster and RC4 encryption 220 times faster than Python. Federighi promised that developers simply won't be able to make entire classes of errors that currently plague them, even though code written in Swift will be able to run alongside current Objective-C code.

[RJS1950]

Heh! Funny.

While Java is a professional programming language that is often used by less than professional programmers it is NOT an ideal language for programming web apps and it never has been. In 95 they began hyping it as a web language because at the time it was better than using C++. The idea behind Java was to remove the “dangerous” aspects of C++ such as pointers and memory management and garbage collection so that programmers couldn’t screw up the code and make it unsafe. Unfortunately, what they removed were the constructs that made C++ so powerful in the hands of competent and experienced programmers and allowed many who were less than skilled to write applications. Crappy code is still crappy code regardless of the language when it is written by newbies who think they know everything about the language. Java is still klunky to write, especially for visual apps and is a memory hog.

C++ is still the predominant language in use along with Java, C#, and yes, VB .Net.

[RJS1950]

I also did all of that except instead of Compass assembly I did IBM assembly. I moved into C++, C#, VB, and some Java and for the last 10 years I’ve been teaching undergraduate/graduates courses in C++, C#, VB.Net, and Java.

[Lazamataz]

Apple is to Development Languages and Environments,

as

Nancy Pelosi is to Sanity.

[Lazamataz]

Apps are good places to store bad developers.

[Lazamataz]

I support a VB.NET web app with dynamic page generation (as opposed to controls on a control surface, and a second C#.NET web app with the control surface page generation.

.NET is still the king of web app development.

[dfwgator]

Never understood why people act so “religious” over programming languages, it’s just a tool. And the more tools you know, the better.

[RJS1950]

No doubt, .NET Framework was built specifically to support web apps and services.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

This is really their first I guess. I imagine they’ve been using it in house for quite a while.

[RJS1950]

That’s been the case for years, shotgun job requirements. In 2000, there were all kinds of postings for 3-5 years of .Net experience. At that time the only developers with that experience were the .Net developers at Microsoft.

HR posters like many CIOs are completely clueless.

[dfwgator]

HR departments are dumping grounds for showing how “diverse” a company is.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

According to the article no relation.

[Lazamataz]

rogramming languages, it’s just a tool. And the more tools you know, the better.

You know me, and I'm a tool.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

The only problem with the original VB was OO support.

When VB.Net came out I went to C# since I did C for years.

I use neither now.

Digging into the details of Swift it turns out to be insanely robust with a lot of choices to accomplish a project.

I don’t like the ‘let’ much. That’s why the analogy to Basic comes from but that’s about all there is in common.

[PreciousLiberty]

".NET is still the king of web app development."

.NET (or .NYET :) has never been the top choice for web app development, since it's tied to Windows. Linux and Unix power most of the big sites, with Java providing the horsepower for "enterprise class" development.

Java has been the #1 language in terms of jobs for quite a while.

Here's a chart from an analysis of 45,000 job postings on Twitter for the last 12 months:

From: http://www.sitepoint.com/best-programming-language-learn-2014/

Back on topic, I think Swift looks pretty darned good. I hope open source implementations are allowed.

[OrioleFan]

Sorry about the IBM assembly language. Compass only had 64 instructions. Seymour Cray designed some fast (ahead of their time) mainframes in the 6000 and 7000 series systems. They had no interrupts. Peripheral processors (programmable channels) were used to monitor the system, control the display, move data around to network devices, card readers, printers, and tape drives. If you knew what you were doing, you could actually start one up from a Fortran program. CDC had 2 operating systems NOS and NOS/BE. NOS came from COS (Cray Operating System) and NOS/BE came from MACE (Mansfield and Callendar’s Executive). I actually went skiing with Dave Callendar, his wife, and my fiance.

[kevkrom]

You know me, and I'm a tool.

I dunno... a tool has to actually be useful for at least one stated purpose.

[kevkrom]

I think Swift looks pretty darned good. I hope open source implementations are allowed.

If they posted the language reference, is it even possible to prevent someone else from writing a compiler for it? You can copyright a specific implementation, but not the language itself, as far as I know.

[kevkrom]

(As an aside, I hope someone does create one, and soon. I want to write an OS X app, but don’t want to pony up the $99 developer fee until I’m certain it’s close to ready for market.)

[Lazamataz]

I will hurt you.

[PreciousLiberty]

“(As an aside, I hope someone does create one, and soon. I want to write an OS X app, but don’t want to pony up the $99 developer fee until I’m certain it’s close to ready for market.)”

You can get all the OSX developer tools free, you only need to pay the $99 if you want to sell through Apple’s stores, or download an iOS app to an actual device rather than a simulator.

Just register for a free developer account. You’ll have access to the XCode 6 beta.