what's the relationship between swift and objective c
Asked on 2024-07-30
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Swift and Objective-C are both programming languages used for developing software on Apple's platforms, but they have different characteristics and roles.
Swift
- Modern and Safe: Swift is designed to be a modern, safe, and expressive language. It aims to simplify the process of writing software and is known for its safety features, speed, and approachability.
- Interoperability: Swift has built-in interoperability with C and Objective-C, allowing developers to incrementally adopt Swift in their existing projects. This means you can use Swift alongside Objective-C in the same project.
- Adoption and Evolution: Apple is committed to adopting Swift across its codebases, including apps, system services, frameworks, and even firmware. Swift is also used for network services like private cloud compute.
- Open Source: Swift is open source, and Apple works with the open-source community to bring Swift to more platforms and domains.
Objective-C
- Legacy and Interoperability: Objective-C has been a primary language for Apple software development before Swift. It is a superset of C, adding object-oriented capabilities and dynamic runtime.
- Modules and Headers: In Objective-C, modules are represented differently compared to Swift. They use headers and module maps to define how headers comprise a module.
Relationship
- Incremental Adoption: Developers can incrementally adopt Swift in their Objective-C projects, improving security and productivity without needing to rewrite everything at once.
- Interoperability: Swift's interoperability with Objective-C allows for a seamless developer experience, enabling the use of Swift's modern features while maintaining existing Objective-C codebases.
- Evolution: Apple is moving towards using Swift more extensively due to its modern features and safety guarantees, but Objective-C remains relevant, especially in legacy codebases.
For more details on Swift's interoperability with C and Objective-C, you can refer to the session What’s new in Swift (21:47).
Relevant Sessions
These sessions provide a comprehensive overview of the relationship between Swift and Objective-C, their interoperability, and the future direction of Swift in Apple's ecosystem.
Platforms State of the Union 5-Minute Recap
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Go small with Embedded Swift
Embedded Swift brings the safety and expressivity of Swift to constrained environments. Explore how Embedded Swift runs on a variety of microcontrollers through a demonstration using an off-the-shelf Matter device. Learn how the Embedded Swift subset packs the benefits of Swift into a tiny footprint with no runtime, and discover plenty of resources to start your own Embedded Swift adventure.
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.