5 Key Benefits of Using Swift for iOS App Development

Posted by Konstant Infosolutions on May 10th, 2018

iOS is known for its tightly integrated closed ecosystem. It has got in place the finest set of tools and technologies for developers to exploit but there is just one small problem- they are hardly offered any alternatives. For instance, before 2014, every iOS application had to be built in Objective-C, which meant no matter how inconvenient some developer felt implementing their ideas in the language, they had no option but to adapt. That all changed in 2014 when Apple came out with a new language for iOS app development- Swift.

This isn’t just about a new language, of course, it has many exclusive perks, but the most notable change is that Swift is an open-source language that brings iOS app developers a whole array of added benefits. So, let’s take a look at the top five benefits that you will experience if you deploy Swift for your next iOS project:

1. Open Source

Everyone knows that open source technologies evolve much rapidly than those proprietary ones. With thousands or even millions of developers free to shape it, developers are much more resourceful when bug-fixes and features are not released in cycles but concurrently. This means they can access a much wider range of libraries and other components to make the development procedure simpler and productive.

2. Less code

Swift codes have much better readability than their Objective-C counterparts and same features can be implemented in fewer lines of code. This not only makes the application light-weight and more efficient, but also means fewer billing hours for developers. To put it simply, if you choose Swift for your iOS application, not only will you get a better product but will also have to pay less- a win-win situation.

3. Better Maintenance

As mentioned, Swift codes have much better readability and are also less in terms of magnitude- both of which contribute to the easy future maintenance and upgrades. This is also the reason why many legacy applications built on Objective-C are now migrating to Swift to implement the benefits of new technology while minimizing the maintenance costs and efforts.

4. Playground

This is one of the most highlighted perks of using Swift for creating iOS applications. It enables iOS app developers to see their code working in real-time without going through all those compilation hurdles. This is virtually a boon for testing new ideas and getting creative developers to experiment with their code for optimization and exploring its true potential.

5. Dynamic libraries 

Ask any developer and they will tell you that releasing new features for an existing application is one of the trickiest parts of the job as well as the businesses. Not only it is tough for developers to incorporate those features, but the businesses also hesitate to force their users to update the app. A simple solution for both is the use of dynamic libraries. These chunks of code can be directly linked to the app and for every new feature released in the language, it will deliver to all the users.

This can also be used to reduce the initial size of an app where only the minimal version is initially offered, and users can later download features as per their choice.

If you know anything about the app development market, you may be aware that most of the iOS app development companies have already moved to Swift for most of their new projects and deploy Object-C only for its legacy value and well-tested components. This means that if you wish your application to be future-proof, without becoming obsolete before launch, betting on Swift may be a wiser business decision.