Swift 2 has new features that will enable developers to write even better code, including advanced error handling, availability checking and syntax enhancements.
Article Link: Apple Announces Swift 2, Open Source for iOS, OS X and Linux
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Apple Announces Swift 2, Open Source for iOS, OS X and Linux
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Swift 2 has new features that will enable developers to write even better code, including advanced error handling, availability checking and syntax enhancements.
Article Link: Apple Announces Swift 2, Open Source for iOS, OS X and Linux
This is absolutely great! Chris Lattner apparently wanted to open source Swift but he wasn't sure if he could make that happen. Glad to see it has.
I'm especially happy about Linux support as well.
I'm especially happy about Linux support as well.
This is major news—just what many people were asking for. By bringing the language to Linux, Apple's finally tailoring Swift to beyond just their own users! Adoption's going to skyrocket, although I still haven't learned it yet 
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The news would be big if Apple was trying to create a cross platform language and tool set, like what Microsoft is doing. But they are not. While someone might adopt Swift for their own platform development (like Linux) you are not going to get Google or Microsoft using Swift, well maybe Google, but I am still sure at some level Apple would forbid that from happening.
If Apple wanted wider adoption then they should have made Swift for Visual Studio on Windows. There is like 1000 to 1 more people developing on Visual Studio, including ALL the enterprise and professional development that is on that platform. But then Microsoft has already taken care of that with Visual Studio 2015 and Xamarin support to build native iOS apps right in Visual Studio.
In fact Microsoft will do more for Apple then Apple is doing for themselves by opening up Swift. Having millions of developers with access to native iOS development on Visual Studio 2015, including a new Visual Studio client for OS X, is already way more exposure then Swift has gained to date. I can easily see far more professional and enterprise apps being developed on Visual Studio, targeting all platforms, then Swift still being used largely to cater to proprietary development for iOS and OS X.
But, even among my friends that develop on OS X, iOS, they don't use Swift themselves, say its nice but years away from being great.
The big news was Microsoft offering native iOS developent on Windows with Visual Studio 2015. This will do more to open up iOS development to a wider core of developers then Swift will ever be capable of.
If Apple wanted wider adoption then they should have made Swift for Visual Studio on Windows. There is like 1000 to 1 more people developing on Visual Studio, including ALL the enterprise and professional development that is on that platform. But then Microsoft has already taken care of that with Visual Studio 2015 and Xamarin support to build native iOS apps right in Visual Studio.
In fact Microsoft will do more for Apple then Apple is doing for themselves by opening up Swift. Having millions of developers with access to native iOS development on Visual Studio 2015, including a new Visual Studio client for OS X, is already way more exposure then Swift has gained to date. I can easily see far more professional and enterprise apps being developed on Visual Studio, targeting all platforms, then Swift still being used largely to cater to proprietary development for iOS and OS X.
But, even among my friends that develop on OS X, iOS, they don't use Swift themselves, say its nice but years away from being great.
The big news was Microsoft offering native iOS developent on Windows with Visual Studio 2015. This will do more to open up iOS development to a wider core of developers then Swift will ever be capable of.
I see what you did there
Once again Swift news is tucked into one of the blogs instead of front page news. This is a much bigger deal than 95% of the stories usually on the front page. Plus we can't even get a proper article about it. I guess it's off to Ars Technica for me...
There is a lot of misinformation in this post...
First off, Swift is open source now. That's not just a phrase, that comes with a set of rules meaning no, Apple can't prevent Google from using Swift if its open source.
Being open source means if Microsoft wants to adopt it in to Visual Studio they can, this isn't something Apple can do, they do not own Visual Studio and can't force Microsoft to adopt their stuff in the same way Microsoft can't up and develop .Net for Xcode.
I never agree with people complaining about MacRumors reporting. It is just annoying... But... man I agree with you on this one. Swift is such an important contribution from Apple.
Why Swift 2 and it's open source?
Notice how they did not mention adoption rate of Swift. Those I trust have told me it's adoption level has been very low. I know one guy fried from his job using Swift due to the instability of the language leading to release dates.
They tried the high road academic PARC types to come up with a next generation language and they fell short. The elimination of header files created way too much combining overhead than anticipated. Also the amount of pushback for even inside Apple was more than anticipated.
Sure the open source community will run at this like starving lions on a fresh kill.
Notice how they did not mention adoption rate of Swift. Those I trust have told me it's adoption level has been very low. I know one guy fried from his job using Swift due to the instability of the language leading to release dates.
They tried the high road academic PARC types to come up with a next generation language and they fell short. The elimination of header files created way too much combining overhead than anticipated. Also the amount of pushback for even inside Apple was more than anticipated.
Sure the open source community will run at this like starving lions on a fresh kill.
what are you talking about? can you post links to sustain your claim that Swift usage is very low? and that you know a guy who was "fried" from his job because, Swift?
Btw, Apple just merged the two Developer memberships for iOS and OS X into one. If you were a member of one, now you are a member of both, at the 99$ annual price.
Yes, he was fired for using Swift. MacRumors does not site their sources inside Apple. That affirms that I have no obligation to site mine.
But yes, Swift adoption has been very low in professional circles. About the only place it is used are manic hobby coding and academic environments.
Remember it took just over a decade for both Python and Java to catch on for professional use after first release. I expect Swift to take as long if at all.
I call ********, how do you get fired for using a new language unless that WASN'T what you were supposed to do? His superior said to him "I know you've been using SWIFT like we told you to...so you're fired"? Come on.
Some people like Udemy. Some of the courses are decent for a beginner. Read reviews before buying. I don't believe there is any S2 on it yet. You may also find a course in iTunesU. Mileage may vary.
Apple is in control of Safari, which is the preinstalled browser on OS X and iOS, so Apple could add Swift 2 as a language that you use to write user facing code instead of JavaScript... with Swift being open source it would be possible for Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google to replicate it in each of their browsers, as well.
Am I jumping the gun or might this be why Apple would choose to open source Swift? I can't imagine why else Apple would bother with that, except that it allows for them to replace JS.
Am I jumping the gun or might this be why Apple would choose to open source Swift? I can't imagine why else Apple would bother with that, except that it allows for them to replace JS.
I would guess adoption rates would go up, once more APIs, features, etc... that still depend on Obj-C got fully converted. Swift seems awesome, but when you still have to combine fragments of Obj-C, C, then it doesn't feel as much like an independently mature language. I have no doubt it will get there, and that it will become the defacto standard for at least Apple products in much the same way the Obj-C is now, but it won't happen overnight.
A huge difference is that, whereas with Python and Java they're just two of hundreds languages you could pick from for the platforms they're on, when you're developing natively for iOS, you have two choices: Obj-C++, and Swift. With Swift released as the successor to Obj-C++, really, everyone knows where this is heading.
I estimate that Swift will be more common than Obj-C++ by the end of 2017 and Obj-C++ will be nothing more than legacy code by 2019.