Only problem is all the GUI libraries that won't be cross-platform. It won't be anything close to build and run on both. But at least third-party libraries that don't have anything to do with GUI will work on both.
Oh dear, I'd better change my day jobJava sucks
I wouldn't call Swift easy to learn. It's easier to start learning than Objective-C, but it gets complex pretty fast. There are lots of nuances that Objective-C and even Java don't have.
I like Swift a lot, but I actually think it could be a bit simpler.
I'm a python developer by trade but Swift seems to be the way forward for mobile apps at least. I wonder if the quant finance world will ever move in this direction... Is there a numpy equivalent for Swift?
Xamarin lets you write in C# (much nicer language than obj-C or swift IMO) and deploy to all platforms. It's really nice.
Thats good to know, I read a book on swift 1.0 and played about with it then but never got around to creating a full app.This was my concern, initially, too - still is to some extent. But the trend for a while - accelerating recently - is for language changes that reduce the complexity.
Google is considering making Apple's Swift programming language a "first class" language for Android, reports The Next Web. Executives from Google, Facebook, and Uber reportedly attended a meeting to discuss Swift in December, around the time that Apple officially made Swift an open source language.As outlined by The Next Web, adopting Swift would be a major undertaking for Google, due to the need to create a runtime for Swift and incorporate it into APIs and SDKs, many of which would need to be rewritten, but it is something that Google could do. A Swift-based Android operating system would be a boon for developers, who could create native apps for both platforms. Swift is a well-liked programming language because it's simple to learn, easy to work with, and fast.![]()
Along with Google, Facebook and Uber are also said to be considering making Swift "more central" to their operations. At Facebook, employees are already working with Swift internally, though how deeply remains in question, and at Uber, it is not clear if work on a transition to Swift has begun.
Switching over to Swift would be a long process for Google that could span multiple months or years due to the need to rewrite Android services, apps, and APIs, so it is not likely to be adopted in the near future, and Android support is integral, says The Next Web, for the deep integration that Facebook and Uber want to adopt.
Apple first announced Swift in June of 2014 and expanded on it with Swift 2 in June of 2015. In December, the programming language was made open source.
Article Link: Apple's Swift Programming Language May Be Adopted by Google for Android
I quite like C#, although I prefer F#. I can see you preferring C# over Objective-C (although not all would agree), but, personally, I prefer Swift over C#. They each have their strengths and weaknesses but I think Swift has more potential at this point. In many ways it is closer to F# (although doesn't go far enough on the functional side, IMHO).
Once it becomes more stable, I expect Swift to see some significant adoption. Python is great because it's fast to write, but Python applications (since they are interpreted) may be highly unstable and significantly slower than a compiled application. People said it didn't matter on a practically-unlimited-power server; they were wrong. The ability of web applications to scale is becoming more and more important, and Swift gives you more bang per buck.
They used webkit for 5 years...and have been on blink going on 3. And blink is a fork of webkit. They could do the same to swift, but it is a much different situation because it would mean breaking all the code for a lot of third party devs, changing a browser rendering engine doesn't require every web dev to rewrite all their javascript code.Google initially used Webkit to ideate Chrome till it got popular and then dropped it later for new Blink engine. They may do the same with Swift. They don't have culture.
I can't imagine why Google would choose Swift.
which would be totally useless for Java
I quite like C#, although I prefer F#. I can see you preferring C# over Objective-C (although not all would agree), but, personally, I prefer Swift over C#. They each have their strengths and weaknesses but I think Swift has more potential at this point. In many ways it is closer to F# (although doesn't go far enough on the functional side, IMHO).
What do you prefer in C# over Swift?
Android uses Java.....? No wonder it's so laggy.
I want to start coding for hobbies sake. Where should I start? Any pointers?
I think either Python or C is the best language to start with if you want to learn it broadly. Otherwise, if you want instant action, I'd say pick up Apple's guide on building your first Swift app and "just do it". Also, be careful when asking programmers for "pointers"A serious question for all you guys.
I want to start coding for hobbies sake. Where should I start? Any pointers?
Go on iTunes U and download one of their tutorials. The Stanford University's -- Developing iOS 8 Apps with Swift, is a good intro.A serious question for all you guys.
I want to start coding for hobbies sake. Where should I start? Any pointers?
Google forked Webkit, the core of Safari, to create Chrome the browser and Chrome the operating system. They take technology where they can find it and adapt it to their needs, be it reverse-engineered Java or their custom Apache webservers.Google considering adopting apple technology? times have changed!
What sort of things are you interested in coding?
Ultimately, for iOS or OS X apps (and maybe Android in the future...) you'll want to learn Swift, for web/browser-based applications you'd want JavaScript (ECMAScript). There's no particular reason why you shouldn't start straight off with either, but it might be worth starting with something like Python (don't like it personally, but it is solid, versatile, cross-platform, lots of support for beginners and a bit more straightforward than Swift). Swift could probably do with another year to evolve and stabilise before becoming ideal for beginners (...and ECMAScript 6 is starting to appear, which could make JavaScript much nicer to use...)
ProTips: there's a huge conceptual leap from learning basic coding skills & writing simple programs, to writing modern GUI-based, event-driven apps and finding your way around all the functionality provided by a modern OS. This is often a bigger deal than hopping between "general" languages like Swift, Python and Javascript.
I think either Python or C is the best language to start with if you want to learn it broadly. Otherwise, if you want instant action, I'd say pick up Apple's guide on building your first Swift app and "just do it". Also, be careful when asking programmers for "pointers"![]()
Go on iTunes U and download one of their tutorials. The Stanford University's -- Developing iOS 8 Apps with Swift, is a good intro.
Python seems to be the suggestion from most developer friends too. And are programmers such dangerous people?![]()
It's more that sudo1996 was saying that pointers are dangerous... and yes this is a programming joke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointer_(computer_programming))