What’s new with the xcode build system?
Asked on 06/16/2025
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In the latest updates to the Xcode build system, several enhancements have been introduced to improve build efficiency and reliability. One of the key features is the introduction of explicitly built modules, which are now enabled by default for C and Objective-C code, and for Swift code in Xcode 26. This feature splits the processing of each compilation unit into three phases: scanning, building modules, and finally building the original source code. This separation allows for better control of module build tasks, optimizing the build pipeline and improving parallelism, diagnostics, and debugging speed.
Additionally, Apple has open-sourced Swift Build, a powerful and extensible build engine used by Xcode and Swift Playgrounds, and is working to incorporate it into the Swift Package Manager to unify the build experience across Swift Open Source Toolchains and Xcode. This new implementation supports all platforms in the Swift ecosystem, including Linux, Windows, and Android.
For more detailed information, you can refer to the session What’s new in Xcode (27:50) and Demystify explicitly built modules (08:37).
What’s new in Xcode
Discover the latest productivity and performance advancements in Xcode 26. Learn how to leverage large language models in your development workflow. Explore editing and debugging enhancements, improved performance and testing tools, and Swift Build - the open-source build system engine used by Xcode.
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.
What’s new in Swift
Join us for an update on Swift. We’ll talk about workflow improvements that make you more productive, and new and modernized library APIs for fundamental programming tasks. We’ll show examples of Swift adoption throughout more layers of the software stack. Finally, we’ll explore new language features for both improving approachability of concurrency, and achieving peak performance when you need it.