What changed in the XCode compilers this year?
Generated on 7/30/2024
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This year, several significant changes were introduced to the Xcode compilers:
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Dynamic Linking Architecture for Previews:
- Xcode Previews now use the same build artifacts for both previews and when you build and run your project. This avoids the need to rebuild your project when switching between the two, resulting in a smoother and more productive workflow. (Platforms State of the Union)
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Explicit Modules:
- Xcode 16 introduces explicit modules, which provide improved parallelism, better diagnostics, and faster debugging without changing a single line of code. For C and Objective-C, explicit modules are enabled by default, while for Swift, developers need to opt-in. (What’s new in Xcode 16)
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Swift 6 Language Mode:
- Swift 6 brings a new language mode that provides concurrency safety guarantees, turning data races into compile-time issues. This improves the correctness and safety of your code. (What’s new in Xcode 16)
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Generative Models for Code Completion:
- Xcode 16 features a new code completion engine powered by generative models. This engine predicts the code you need, using your project symbols to customize suggestions. It runs locally on your Mac, ensuring privacy and fast results, even when offline. (Platforms State of the Union)
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Swift Package Integration Improvements:
- Enhancements to Swift package integration allow for queuing up builds without waiting, streamlining the build process. (What’s new in Xcode 16)
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Swift 6 Data Isolation Enforcement:
- Enabling Swift 6 mode brings full data isolation enforcement, with compiler diagnostics guiding developers towards potential bugs, acting like a pair programmer. (Migrate your app to Swift 6)
These updates collectively enhance the development experience by improving build performance, code safety, and developer productivity.
Platforms State of the Union 5-Minute Recap
Watch a quick recap of the newest advancements on Apple platforms.
Platforms State of the Union
Discover the newest advancements on Apple platforms.
Migrate your app to Swift 6
Experience Swift 6 migration in action as we update an existing sample app. Learn how to migrate incrementally, module by module, and how the compiler helps you identify code that’s at risk of data races. Discover different techniques for ensuring clear isolation boundaries and eliminating concurrent access to shared mutable state.
Port advanced games to Apple platforms
Discover how simple it can be to reach players on Apple platforms worldwide. We’ll show you how to evaluate your Windows executable on Apple silicon, start your game port with code samples, convert your shader code to Metal, and bring your game to Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Explore enhanced Metal tools that understand HLSL shaders to validate, debug, and profile your ported shaders on Metal.
What’s new in Swift
Join us for an update on Swift. We’ll briefly go through a history of Swift over the past decade, and show you how the community has grown through workgroups, expanded the package ecosystem, and increased platform support. We’ll introduce you to a new language mode that achieves data-race safety by default, and a language subset that lets you run Swift on highly constrained systems. We’ll also explore some language updates including noncopyable types, typed throws, and improved C++ interoperability.
What’s new in Xcode 16
Discover the latest productivity and performance improvements in Xcode 16. Learn about enhancements to code completion, diagnostics, and Xcode Previews. Find out more about updates in builds and explore improvements in debugging and Instruments.