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Show HN: Swifty – Learn to code in Swift

108 points by theflagbug 11y ago

Cyberdog 11y ago
1. Why the hell is this an iOS app? 2. How the hell is this an iOS app?
- jamisteven 11y ago
  Because swift is for apple...?
  - thawkins 11y ago
    Not any more, the opensource vesion is here, runs on ubuntu and fedora (i hae got it compiled on fedora). Enterprising souls are right now working on a windows version.
  - Cyberdog 11y ago
    In practice, nobody is seriously writing Swift code (or any other code) on iOS devices. My meaning was I don't understand why this is an iOS app instead of a Mac app or even a web one (like IBM's Swift sandbox[1]). That being said, I'm kind of impressed someone managed to get an app on the App Store that can do this. I know that Apple loosened its restrictions on code execution on iOS a while back, but as far as I am aware there's no way to compile Swift on ARM… did they write their own compiler/runtime or something? 1: https://developer.ibm.com/swift/2015/12/03/introducing-the-ibm-swift-sandbox/ https://developer.ibm.com/swift/2015/12/03/introducing-the-i...
    - jonsen 11y ago
      It is a learning tool. Handy to have on a mobile device. Learn while commuting for example.
    - kazazes 11y ago
      The lessons and exercises are limited in scope enough that they are entirely static. The work the app needs to do is limited to parsing, stylizing, checking (simple) syntax and matching user input to the task, not executing it. The lessons themselves are no more complex than a programming PPT presentation that looks prettier.
      - Cyberdog 11y ago
        All the more reason iOS is a bizarre platform for this, then.
        nilliams 11y ago
        What's bizarre about it? Apple developers tend to own other Apple devices and are likely to want to learn Swift on the go.
- joslin01 11y ago
  Not a crazy question, but I'm guessing it's so users can feel comfortable learning Swift wherever they are. Yes, it's true that you should be on Xcode for serious development but I'm guessing this is aimed at the user who has never coded in Swift before.
- cballard 11y ago
  Why is this downvoted so heavily? Seriously, how is this implemented? I don't think Emscripten works with Swift yet, and even if it did, there hasn't been enough time since the open source release to implement an entire app.
- Terribledactyl 11y ago
  1) It's kind fun, like an interactive text book. 2) Not actually running any (of your) code, or coding really. Tap this to fill in a string, or to select an operator from a few approved.
- Angostura 11y ago
  Umm, I used it while sitting in my daughters' swimming gala for several hours. It was splendid. At one point in the tutorial they suggest that you might want to open Xcode alongside, but tutorials on the Tube etc. are great.
melling 11y ago
I started a Swift Cookbook a couple months ago. I've got a section on Strings and Arrays. http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=arrays http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=arra... http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=strings http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=stri... I could throw up Dates and Dictionaries over the weekend. There's a Playground switch so you can copy-paste the text as a working Playground: http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?format=play&topic=strings http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?format=pla...
dcip6s 11y ago
Looks great, but on the wrong platform. Is there a Mac version in the works?
- thawkins 11y ago
  And an android version, now swift gas gone open source the shackles are off.
- sanjeetsuhag 11y ago
  Why would there be a Mac version ? Xcode Playgrounds do that job for you.
antidamage 11y ago
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT
- robotmlg 11y ago
  Gotta get shwifty!
  - jibberia 11y ago
    Pull down your repo and your assets!
    - pablovidal85 11y ago
      Git on the floor!
      - sidcypher 11y ago
        It's Schwifty time today!
gravitronic 11y ago
This is awesome! More engaging than reading, but not full typing code on your phone.
Exuma 11y ago
Get shwiftyyyy
magicbuzz 11y ago
This is very cool indeed. I have spent a few minutes getting into it on an iPad and it looks like a great learning resource. I'm very pleased that these resources are coming into being for people wanting to get started in programming and for Swift specifically. The Stanford course is great but too high-level for a lot of people. I have put up projects myself with pre-built modules to hopefully make it easier for people to get started - https://github.com/timburgess/ScienceKit https://github.com/timburgess/ScienceKit
avyfain 11y ago
Sad to see ++ and -- among the first things you learn. Aren't they [slated](1) to be taken out of the language? 1: https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0004-remove-pre-post-inc-decrement.md https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposa...
pgroth 11y ago
I've been enjoying this as just a fun thing to do sitting on the couch in the evening. Sit back and learn a bit of swift. Mainly just getting info on syntax. It's surprisingly relaxing.
eecks 11y ago
Android version?

108 points by theflagbug 11y ago

Cyberdog 11y ago

1. Why the hell is this an iOS app? 2. How the hell is this an iOS app?

jamisteven 11y ago
Because swift is for apple...?
- thawkins 11y ago
  Not any more, the opensource vesion is here, runs on ubuntu and fedora (i hae got it compiled on fedora). Enterprising souls are right now working on a windows version.
- Cyberdog 11y ago
  In practice, nobody is seriously writing Swift code (or any other code) on iOS devices. My meaning was I don't understand why this is an iOS app instead of a Mac app or even a web one (like IBM's Swift sandbox[1]). That being said, I'm kind of impressed someone managed to get an app on the App Store that can do this. I know that Apple loosened its restrictions on code execution on iOS a while back, but as far as I am aware there's no way to compile Swift on ARM… did they write their own compiler/runtime or something? 1: https://developer.ibm.com/swift/2015/12/03/introducing-the-ibm-swift-sandbox/ https://developer.ibm.com/swift/2015/12/03/introducing-the-i...
  - jonsen 11y ago
    It is a learning tool. Handy to have on a mobile device. Learn while commuting for example.
  - kazazes 11y ago
    The lessons and exercises are limited in scope enough that they are entirely static. The work the app needs to do is limited to parsing, stylizing, checking (simple) syntax and matching user input to the task, not executing it. The lessons themselves are no more complex than a programming PPT presentation that looks prettier.
    - Cyberdog 11y ago
      All the more reason iOS is a bizarre platform for this, then.
      - nilliams 11y ago
        What's bizarre about it? Apple developers tend to own other Apple devices and are likely to want to learn Swift on the go.
joslin01 11y ago
Not a crazy question, but I'm guessing it's so users can feel comfortable learning Swift wherever they are. Yes, it's true that you should be on Xcode for serious development but I'm guessing this is aimed at the user who has never coded in Swift before.
cballard 11y ago
Why is this downvoted so heavily? Seriously, how is this implemented? I don't think Emscripten works with Swift yet, and even if it did, there hasn't been enough time since the open source release to implement an entire app.
Terribledactyl 11y ago
1) It's kind fun, like an interactive text book. 2) Not actually running any (of your) code, or coding really. Tap this to fill in a string, or to select an operator from a few approved.
Angostura 11y ago
Umm, I used it while sitting in my daughters' swimming gala for several hours. It was splendid. At one point in the tutorial they suggest that you might want to open Xcode alongside, but tutorials on the Tube etc. are great.

melling 11y ago

I started a Swift Cookbook a couple months ago. I've got a section on Strings and Arrays. http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=arrays http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=arra... http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=strings http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?topic=stri... I could throw up Dates and Dictionaries over the weekend. There's a Playground switch so you can copy-paste the text as a working Playground: http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?format=play&topic=strings http://www.h4labs.com/dev/ios/swift_cookbook.html?format=pla...

dcip6s 11y ago

Looks great, but on the wrong platform. Is there a Mac version in the works?

thawkins 11y ago
And an android version, now swift gas gone open source the shackles are off.
sanjeetsuhag 11y ago
Why would there be a Mac version ? Xcode Playgrounds do that job for you.

antidamage 11y ago

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT

robotmlg 11y ago
Gotta get shwifty!
- jibberia 11y ago
  Pull down your repo and your assets!
  - pablovidal85 11y ago
    Git on the floor!
    - sidcypher 11y ago
      It's Schwifty time today!

gravitronic 11y ago

This is awesome! More engaging than reading, but not full typing code on your phone.

Exuma 11y ago

Get shwiftyyyy

magicbuzz 11y ago

This is very cool indeed. I have spent a few minutes getting into it on an iPad and it looks like a great learning resource. I'm very pleased that these resources are coming into being for people wanting to get started in programming and for Swift specifically. The Stanford course is great but too high-level for a lot of people. I have put up projects myself with pre-built modules to hopefully make it easier for people to get started - https://github.com/timburgess/ScienceKit https://github.com/timburgess/ScienceKit

avyfain 11y ago

Sad to see ++ and -- among the first things you learn. Aren't they [slated](1) to be taken out of the language? 1: https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposals/0004-remove-pre-post-inc-decrement.md https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/proposa...

pgroth 11y ago

I've been enjoying this as just a fun thing to do sitting on the couch in the evening. Sit back and learn a bit of swift. Mainly just getting info on syntax. It's surprisingly relaxing.

eecks 11y ago

Android version?