What is Swift Programming Language and Why Businesses Should Consider It in 2024

In today’s app market where competition is too high, choosing the right programming language for your app development project is crucial for success.

The language you pick can significantly impact development speed, code maintainability, performance, and ultimately, user experience.

One such language that stands out for its potential is Swift. Swift is a trending, fast, and highly efficient mobile app development language, packed with innovative features and functionalities.

Developed by Apple, Swift builds upon the strengths of established languages like C and Objective-C, offering a more streamlined and developer-friendly experience.

Since its introduction, leading iOS and iPhone application development companies have embraced Swift for its flexibility and ease of use.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at Swift programming language. We'll explore the basics of the language, its history, and the various use cases it excels in.

But most importantly, we'll discuss the factors that make Swift an ideal option for businesses in 2024 and why you should strongly consider it for your next iOS app development project.

What is Swift Programming Language?

Swift is a multi-paradigm, general-purpose, compiled, and high-level coding language that Apple designed and first introduced in June 2014.

This programming language can be used to build applications for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and so on. Swift programming language includes a lot of modern features that developers find prominent to work with.

Developers can effortlessly make a great entry into the development realm with Swift since it’s simpler to read and learn in corresponds with senior languages like Objective-C.

That is one of the biggest reasons why Swift has evolved into one of the best programming languages today. Not only that, but the language is likewise consistent with Linux, windows, and more platforms.

Let's take a quick look at the history of Swift and understand how the language has evolved tremendously since its emergence.

The History of Swift Language

The Swift programming language was first developed under the guidance of Chris Lattner at Apple, Inc.. It was first introduced alongside iOS 8 at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in 2014.

Although the main goal of Swift has always been to make it easier to make apps for Apple’s range of operating systems such as iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, etc., the Swift language and compilers are open-source and available for use on a wide range of other operating systems.

Before the introduction of iOS 8, Objective-C was the stipulated programming language for the development of iOS applications.

However, When Apple announced iOS 8, the company also launched an alternative to Objective-C in the form of the Swift coding language.

With the growing popularity of iOS, Objective-C has become one of the most extensively used programming languages.

However, with its roots firmly planted in the 40-year-old C Programming Language, and despite efforts to update some features of the language syntax, Objective-C was beginning to show its age.

Swift, on the other hand, is a relatively new programming language that was created particularly to make programming easier, faster, and less prone to programmer errors.

As a fresh and revolutionary language, Swift language is used for developing applications that start from scratch and are free of legacy constraints.

All these features made Swift one of the most used programming languages for app development.

Must Read: Which Programming Language is Best for the Future?

Use Cases of Swift Programming Language

After discussing what is swift language and the history behind it, it’s time we move forward and talk about the use cases of this language.

Although Swift was primarily built to develop mobile applications, its use cases extend beyond that.

It includes various development scenarios such as the iOS app, macOS app, tvOS, and watchOS.

iOS App Development

When it comes to iOS development programming language, programmers have the option of using either Objective-C or Swift.

Today, most programmers prefer to work with Swift programming language since it has a lot of modern attributes to work with trending concepts.

Also, Apple once stated that Swift is up to 2.6 bits faster, analogized to Objective-C.

Recommended Read: Successful iOS App Design With 12 Easy Tips

MacOS App Development

Mobile app development is not the only thing that businesses need today, the demand for desktop applications is also increasing.

So for the desktop app purpose, developers can also use Swift which is two times more preferable option to go with.

Swift performs smoothly to execute on macOS compared to Objective-C since it was developed in a way to do so.

TvOS & watchOS Development

Swift is also popular for creating tvOS apps that run on Apple TV. It is possible to design a faultless visual experience for tvOS apps.

The current iOS app development trends involve wearable technologies. Furthermore, most iPhone owners like investing in wearables like smartwatches.

Watches with such smart technology can provide biometric data about your body, such as heart rate because they are in direct contact with it. 92% of smartwatch users said they use them to stay healthy.

Smartwatches provide users with quick access to a variety of features.

Programmers can use Swift development language to create watchOS apps that work with iPhones, allowing customers to access information even when their phone is not nearby.

Explore More: Wearable App Development for Smart Watches and Fitness Trackers 2024

Factors that Make Swift a Popular Programming Langauge

Below are some of the major features of Swift programming language that appeal to many developers to choose this language instead of other programming languages:

1. Ease of Reading and Writing

Swift with an unmistakeable clear syntax structure becomes much simpler to read and write when compared with other popular programming languages.

The app development frameworks of Swift are crisp and concise, making the product developed using Swift run rapidly and smoothly. Coding Swift is relatively easy and clean.

It repeats plain English text, making it simple for developers to understand it and save a lot of time. This also makes learning Swift easier for aspiring programmers.

Also Read: Top 10 Choices in Android App Development Frameworks (2024)

2. Safe, Secure, and Stable

Developing versatile mobile applications with Swift iOS allows supreme safety. This powerful feature of Swift language is viewed as safe, on account of its error-dealing capability and upgraded typing system.

One of the best things about Swift programming language is that the developers can see the coding blunders in a split second.

This is one of the reasons why so many people consider Swist better than Python for mobile app development, especially for iOS and macOS.

3. Highly Interactive

Swift working in an interactive setting, allows developers to see the output as they are coding, making it the best programming language for iOS in 2024.

Developers can easily see if there are any mistakes or errors and fix them during the coding stage itself. The Playground option in Swift works by testing new algorithms progressively in real-time.

This component, commonly known as Read-Eval-Print-Loop (REPL) is effective and valuable in getting the hang of, learning, experimenting, testing, and prototyping.

This makes application development more possible and accessible, making Swift one of the best iOS development programming languages today.

Latest Read: Travel App Development Guide: How To Create A Successful Travel App in 2024?

4. The Speed Advantage

One of the essential reasons why businesses should consider Swift in 2024 for an app development project is because of its speed advantage in the developing and testing stages.

The cost and time of mobile app development are significantly reduced. In fact, Swift is one of the fastest-development languages.

It helps developers use high-order functions and generics, consequently delivering the code perfectly and reusable.

5. Ease of Maintenance

Contrasting Objective-C which relies upon C, Swift's development language isn’t reliant; which makes it straightforward to maintain.

Quickly, by combining the two code records of C and Objective-C into a single code file known as swift. This makes Swift language simple to deal with, handle, and manage.

App developers get more options to design and plan the app rationale and enhance the code quality, making the application run flawlessly.

6. Open-Source Language

In 2015, Apple declared Swift as an open-source language. This encouraged developers to use it openly, saving the expense of iOS app development for small and large-scale businesses.

Because of this, the Swift programming language from that point been getting increasingly popular.

7. Safe Memory Management

Swift supports Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) across all the APIs. This not only ensures less effort to maintain memory but also makes a quicker application development process.

The automated memory management in Swift helps prevent normal programming mistakes too.

Interesting Read: 10 Most Expensive Apps on the App Store In 2024

Why Business Should Choose Swift for iOS App Development

Swift is an open-source coding language that is gaining immense popularity around the globe.

As discussed in some features above, Swift programming language allows coders to write codes faster for iOS, macOS, and other Apple platforms, which results in fewer bugs and decreases the chances of app crashes.

If you’re a business owner looking to develop an iOS app for your business then Swift surely can be the perfect option to achieve a large amount of audience depending on Apple’s system.

Below are some of the key benefits of choosing Swift for your iOS app development project:

Faster development

Swift is a clean and expressive programming language with a streamlined syntax that is easy to read and write.

The ARC (Automatic Reference Counting) feature monitors the application's memory usage.

As a result, programmers must exert less effort while carrying out such activities manually. As a result, Swift iOS app development allows programmers to speed up the development process.

Important Read: Top 8 Benefits of Mobile App Development for Business in 2024

Open-Source

Because it is open source, programmers can easily upgrade all of the source codes, bug trackers, and other components regularly.

And because of its robustness, developers may easily complete the technical documentation process. Swift now has a large and active community, and it can be used with a variety of third-party development tools.

Safety

Another significant advantage that Swift provides is its secure environment. It was supposed to be a type-safe and memory-safe programming language.

Type-safe prevents type mistakes, and the memory-safe function avoids exposures linked to uninitialized pointers, which could cause the program to crash.

As a result, entrepreneurs can benefit from a safer app environment while launching their firms in the digital marketplace.

Eats less memory

When it comes to memory management, Swift programming language again outperforms Objective-C. Later, Objective-C had an object link that consumed some of the computer's RAM.

However, this is not the case in Swift, which is a single object-oriented program that has been split into structures. As a result, the data types and SDK classes are reduced, which beings helpful in saving more memory.

Multifaceted language

Swift has a multifaceted language function, which is still another significant advantage.

It enables iPhone app development companies in India to properly comprehend the language and program, which aids in the development of a wide range of mobile applications, both basic and complicated.

Explore More: How to Develop an App Using Python in 2024

Optimal Language Programming

It is regarded as a world-class programming language developed by Apple that is constantly improving user experiences.

After all, it was launched after passing various tests and assessing its suitability for developing commercial apps. The finest thing is that the language is regularly updated to make it more user-friendly.

Low Maintenance

For every business, mobile app maintenance stands as the most crucial aspect. It becomes more important when a business archives a wide range of targeted audiences.

It becomes necessary to maintain consistency between your business and the users by offering fresh concepts.

Along with businesses, programmers also have to keep up with the regular updates and implementations to take the app to the next level.

It’s all possible with Swift programming language as its platform is independent and demands low maintenance.

Ready to leverage Swift for your iOS app?  The next crucial step is to partner with a reputable app development company.

They'll help you utilize the full potential of Swift and deliver the perfect application to meet your business needs.

Arramton Infotech, the leading iOS application development company, has a team of iOS developers who not only have the knowledge to build apps but also have delivered many successful solutions to our clients.

Reach out to us today to get a free iOS app development quote and kickstart your project!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which one is better Swift vs Python?

Ans. Swift is better than Python in iOS development, while Python is a versatile language for web, data science, and more.

Q. What is the purpose of the Swift language?

Ans. Swift is a general-purpose language designed for building secure, performant applications. It's particularly popular for iOS development but can be used for other tasks as well.

Q. Is Swift only for iOS?

Ans. While dominant in iOS development, Swift can also be used for macOS applications, server-side development, and even game creation.

Q. Is Swift faster than C++?

Ans. Swift can be faster than C++ in some cases due to its automatic memory management and focus on developer safety. However, C++ offers more fine-grained control for performance-critical tasks.

Q. Is Swift backend or frontend?

Ans. Swift can be used for both backend (server-side) and frontend (user interface) development. Frameworks like Vapor exist for server-side Swift development, while SwiftUI is a popular framework for building user interfaces.

Q. Why do companies use Swift programming language?

Ans. Companies use Swift for its speed, security, ease of development, and tight integration with Apple's development tools. It allows them to create high-performance and user-friendly applications for Apple devices.

Q. Which programming language is used for developing native iOS apps?

Ans. Swift is the primary language for developing native iOS applications. While Objective-C is still used in some legacy projects, Swift is the preferred choice for new development due to its modern features and ease of use.