The focus of this category is on the Swift programming language, developed by Apple in 2014. Originally proprietary, the language is now available through the Apache License.
Designed to work with Apple's Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, and the large body of Objective-C code written for Apple products, Swift has been included in Xcode since version 6, released in 2014. Swift uses the Objective-C runtime library, which allows C, C++, Objective C, and Swift code to run within the same program.
Development on Swift began in 2010, with Chris Lattner as the lead designer. The language was influenced by C#, CLU, D, Haskell, Objective-C, Python, Ruby, and Rust.
In 2015, the language, its supporting libraries, debugger, and package manager were open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license with a Runtime Library Exception, and Swift.org was created to host the project. The source code is hosted on GitHub.
In 2019, Apple announced SwiftUI, providing a framework for declarative UI structure design across all Apple platforms.
Swift is an alternative to the Objective-C language, employing modern programming concepts with the goal of achieving a simple syntax. During its early development, it was referred to as "Objective-C without the C."
Open-source projects to port the language to the web include Kitura, Perfect, and Vapor. Apple and the Swift developer community have established a working group to design an official server API. Another free implementation of Swift is part of the Elements Compiler from RemObjects Software, targeting Cocoa, Microsoft's .NET, and the Java and Android platforms.
Websites focused on the Swift programming language, any of its implementations, compilers, or other tools designed to facilitate the use of the language are appropriate topics for this category, as are Swift user groups, forums, and tutorials.
Recommended Resources
Swift is an intuitive and open-source programming language for macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and other platforms. Offering concise syntax, Swift code is safe by design. The most recent version of the language is highlighted, including its features, compatibility qualifications, and reasons why it is a good language for programmers to learn. Xcode, an IDE for Swift, may be freely downloaded from the site, along with documentation, development notes, and sample code.
https://developer.apple.com/swift/
Created by Apple for building applications for iOS, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, Swift is easy to use and open source. Featuring the programming language, the definitive book, The Swift Programming Language, can be freely downloaded as an e-book, and both Swift and Xcode are available for free. Other resources include a developer blog, Swift Playgrounds, and a list of schools that have added Swift to their curriculum, and apps that have been created with Swift.
https://www.apple.com/swift/
The Swift Project is supported by the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy Office of Science, as well as the National Institutes of Health, Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Chicago Computation Institute. The Swift/T implementation of the Swift language may be downloaded, along with a user guide, as well as the main Swift Language files, licensed under the Apache License. Documentation, case studies, and a quick-start guide are presented.
http://www.swift-lang.org/
Maintained by the Swift community, the site presents an introduction to the language, its features, and, platform support, and development information, as well as an informational blog. Swift packages for various platforms may be downloaded from the site, including the Xcode IDE, documentation, and other files. A guide to getting started with the language is presented here, with its documentation, source code, source compatibility, compiler, standard library, package manager, and core libraries.
https://swift.org/
TensorFlow is an end-to-end open-source platform for machine learning, offering a comprehensive, flexible ecosystem of tools, libraries, and community resources. Swift for TensorFlow is a next-generation platform for deep learning and differentiable programming. By integrating with the Swift language, it enables more powerful algorithms to be expressed. The latest version of TensorFlow is available, and tutorials on Swift programming are included.
https://www.tensorflow.org/swift/
Swift for Windows allows the user to create a program in Swift, using their favorite editor, and compile the program to run on machines using Windows 10 or Windows 7, 64-bit. The open-source development environment for Swift programming for Windows applications may be freely downloaded from the site. Other information includes development notes, news, support documentation, and a community support forum that can be used to ask for help or to file bug reports.
https://swiftforwindows.github.io/
Released as a concept one month after Apple open-sourced Swift, and began Linux support, Vapor was released under an MIT License in January of 2016. Written in Swift, Vapor is an open-source web framework used to create RESTful APIs, web applications, and real-time applications using WebSockets, which is also available here, along with other packages. A profile of the tool is put forth, its sponsors are acknowledged, and documentation is included.
https://vapor.codes/
