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Swift is so awesome! If it was simpler to start a non-UI project and compile time was shorter I would have definitely joined onboard.

by iddan 8y ago

skohan 8y ago
> If it was simpler to start a non-UI project You can do it in one command: $ swift package init --type executable
- zapzupnz 8y ago
  And then to make that project openable in Xcode: $ swift package generate-xcodeproj
tokyodude 8y ago
what makes it awesome? reading the spec nothing sticks out. I often wonder if it's just ObjC survivor bias but if there is anything that makes it actually special I'd love to know.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  It has (IMO) pretty and consistent syntax for many programming paradigms. Most of the language decisions seem like they were given significant thought. Swift is a great language to read and write because it strives to be pleasant for both cases.
- nicoburns 8y ago
  > I often wonder if it's just ObjC survivor bias but if there is anything that makes it actually special I'd love to know. It's definitely not just this. Swift is very similar in design to Rust, and has a lot of the same goodies like an ML-inspired type system, but without the complications imposed by the borrow checker / lack of GC.
- omeid2 8y ago
  Light syntax, algebraic datatypes, type parameters, very solid enumeration, the whole ObjC library ecosystem, semi-decent (compared to Haskell/OCaml et. al) pattern matching, immutable and mutable data structures (Array vs ArraySlice for example).
  - skohan 8y ago
    Don't forget the whole C library ecosystem, which IMO is much more useful.
    - saagarjha 8y ago
      This can be somewhat annoying to work with in Swift, though it’s gotten better recently.
      - skohan 8y ago
        It's not perfect, but it's loads better than using something like JNI.
        saagarjha 8y ago
        Yeah, I can see it being a whole lot worse ;)
        pjmlp 8y ago
        JNI was made that way on purpose, because Sun wanted to discourage native code, as Mark Reinhold already mentioned a few times on Java conferences. Panama will thankfully fix that. https://jdk.java.net/panama/ https://jdk.java.net/panama/ Just don't expect it to ever be supported on Android. But they surely will, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Java_virtual_machines#Proprietary_implementations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Java_virtual_machines#...
- twic 8y ago
  It's a decent language, if nothing particularly special. It's like a slightly fresher Java or C#. Survivor bias and standard-issue Apple fanboyism give it some extra shine.

Swift is so awesome! If it was simpler to start a non-UI project and compile time was shorter I would have definitely joined onboard.

by iddan 8y ago

Swift is so awesome! If it was simpler to start a non-UI project and compile time was shorter I would have definitely joined onboard.

skohan 8y ago

> If it was simpler to start a non-UI project You can do it in one command: $ swift package init --type executable

zapzupnz 8y ago
And then to make that project openable in Xcode: $ swift package generate-xcodeproj

tokyodude 8y ago

what makes it awesome? reading the spec nothing sticks out. I often wonder if it's just ObjC survivor bias but if there is anything that makes it actually special I'd love to know.

saagarjha 8y ago
It has (IMO) pretty and consistent syntax for many programming paradigms. Most of the language decisions seem like they were given significant thought. Swift is a great language to read and write because it strives to be pleasant for both cases.
nicoburns 8y ago
> I often wonder if it's just ObjC survivor bias but if there is anything that makes it actually special I'd love to know. It's definitely not just this. Swift is very similar in design to Rust, and has a lot of the same goodies like an ML-inspired type system, but without the complications imposed by the borrow checker / lack of GC.
omeid2 8y ago
Light syntax, algebraic datatypes, type parameters, very solid enumeration, the whole ObjC library ecosystem, semi-decent (compared to Haskell/OCaml et. al) pattern matching, immutable and mutable data structures (Array vs ArraySlice for example).
- skohan 8y ago
  Don't forget the whole C library ecosystem, which IMO is much more useful.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    This can be somewhat annoying to work with in Swift, though it’s gotten better recently.
    - skohan 8y ago
      It's not perfect, but it's loads better than using something like JNI.
      - saagarjha 8y ago
        Yeah, I can see it being a whole lot worse ;)
      - pjmlp 8y ago
        JNI was made that way on purpose, because Sun wanted to discourage native code, as Mark Reinhold already mentioned a few times on Java conferences. Panama will thankfully fix that. https://jdk.java.net/panama/ https://jdk.java.net/panama/ Just don't expect it to ever be supported on Android. But they surely will, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Java_virtual_machines#Proprietary_implementations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Java_virtual_machines#...
twic 8y ago
It's a decent language, if nothing particularly special. It's like a slightly fresher Java or C#. Survivor bias and standard-issue Apple fanboyism give it some extra shine.