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Introduction
Objective-C is a renowned language for iOS development. However, being a decades-old programming language, it is unfamiliar with the advances and developer-friendly features that modern programming languages have.
To counter this dilemma, Apple introduced the Swift programming language to move away from the C-style languages. The following article gives an insight into the differences between Objective-C and Swift programming languages.
Objective-C
Developed in the early 1980s, Objective-C is a superset of C with added object-oriented programing features with a particular focus on code reusability. Objective-C derives its syntax from a language called Smalltalk.
The popularity of Objective-C rose after it was adopted by a company named NeXT, Inc. whose founder was Steve Jobs. After his return to Apple in late 1980, Objective-C was used as the foundation for OS X (Apple’s desktop operating system) and iOS (Apple’s mobile operating system).
Swift
In 2014, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference introduced Swift, an entirely new language for the development of iOS and OS X applications. Swift aims to be safe and fast, minimize undefined behavior, and have a clean, modern syntax, unlike Objective-C, a much older language, that does not consider the advancements that modern languages currently include.
In December 2015, Swift was open-sourced for the developers to interact with it. The main intention was to make it a general programming language and use it for systems beyond macOS and iOS.
Swift is a general-purpose, high-level programming language that has been influenced by Objective-C and modern languages like Python, Javascript, Ruby, and many more.
It is a decades-old language that came into being in 1984.
Swift is a new language that was introduced by Apple in 2014.
Objective-C runs fast.
Swift runs at a comparable speed with Objective-C. However, with its eventual progress, it has become even faster.
Being an old language, it has a clunky syntax which can be a hurdle for developers.
Swift has a more readable code that closely resembles English. Also, it requires relatively lesser code for the same functionality.
It uses the C compiler for compilation purposes.
It uses LLVM (Low-Level Virtual Machine)as its compiler framework, which is relatively faster and smarter than C-compiler.
Objective-C has pointers that give programmers direct access to data and can cause security issues and unprecedented bugs.
Swift also has pointers, but an enhanced error reporting makes its usage safer than Objective-C.
Memory is managed by the developer.
Swift uses Automatic Reference Counting(ARC), which tracks memory usage.
Semicolons are required.
Does not require semicolons.
Types are needed to be declared.
Types are inferred.
Complex maintenance as two separate files must be handled by developers.
Only a single file has to be handled by the developers making maintenance hassle-free.
Does not support templates.
Has multiple types of templates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Objective-C or Swift?
Swift is fast, more memory efficient, easy to read and maintain, and easy to write, all of which Objective-C lacks. Hence Swift is an optimal choice for both beginners and experienced developers.
Does Apple use Swift or Objective-C?
Apple's usage of Swift has doubled since its introduction, and all the new functionalities are using Swift. However, there is still some Objective-C code in Apple's operating systems.
Is Objective-C hard to learn?
Objective-C is an old language that does not have the developer-friendly modern techniques that programming languages like Python, Rust, and Javascript. Hence, developers often find it intimidating to work with due to its distinct syntax.
Will Objective-C become Obsolete?
Because of its large codebase and usage in iOS, Objective-C will not become obsolete soon.
Why did Apple move to Swift?
Objective-C, which was the primary programming language of Apple, was old and lacked many modern features found in many programming languages of today. To overcome this demerit, Swift was introduced in 2014 for the developers to move away from C-type languages.
Conclusion
In this article, we have extensively discussed the differences between Swiftand Objective-C. We began with a brief introduction of both languages followed by the key differences between them.
After reading about the differences betweenSwiftandObjective-C, are you not feeling excited to read/explore more articles on the topic of iOS development? Don't worry; Coding Ninjas has you covered. To learn, see Swift tutorial for beginners, Swift tutorial archives and Swift Generics.
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