What’s new in swift?

At WWDC 2024, several exciting updates and new features were introduced for Swift. Here are the key highlights:

1. Swift 6 Language Mode:

   • Data Race Safety: Swift 6 introduces a new language mode that provides data race safety guarantees, helping developers write correct concurrent programs. This is a significant enhancement for ensuring the safety of concurrent code.
   • Non-Copyable Types: Swift 6 introduces non-copyable types, which means that all Swift types, whether value types or reference types, are copyable by default, but now you can define types that cannot be copied.
   • Embedded Swift: A new language subset called Embedded Swift is introduced, which can run on highly constrained systems, expanding the use of Swift to more platforms.

2. Swift's Evolution and Community:

   • Swift has reached its 10th anniversary, marking a decade of evolution and community-driven development. The language has grown significantly, with contributions from a vibrant community.
   • The Swift project is moving to a new organization on GitHub (swiftlang), which will include the Swift Compiler foundation and many more Swift ecosystem packages.

3. Interoperability and Portability:

   • Continued improvements in interoperability, including bi-directional interoperability with C, making it easier to integrate Swift with existing C codebases.
   • Swift is now available on more platforms, including a community port to Windows.

4. Concurrency Model:

   • Enhancements to the concurrency model, including async/await, actors, and structured concurrency, which were introduced in previous versions and continue to be refined.

5. SwiftUI Enhancements:

   • SwiftUI has been updated to better integrate with the new Swift 6 language mode, including improvements to APIs and the introduction of new features like custom containers, mesh gradients, and scrolling customizations.

For more detailed information, you can watch the session "What’s new in Swift" starting at 17:03.