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Does Apple use Swift (on Linux) for their own backend services?

by GoOnThenDoTell 5y ago

yakkityyak 5y ago
Not really. It’s mostly Java and Go.
- Longhanks 5y ago
  How can you tell?
  - alblue 5y ago
    I worked there, and yes, most of the server side stuff is in Java and Go.
    - qaq 5y ago
      Do you need both or would just Go do :) ? Hate Java
      - alblue 5y ago
        If you were starting from scratch, you probably would start with a different system. However web objects was their web framework at the time which was ported from objective c to java decades ago and shifting legacy from any technology to another is practically impossible especially if that technology is a cost rather than a product.
      - qaq 5y ago
        I am not sure what is upsetting about the question was honestly wondering how realistic it is to work at Apple on services using primarily Go.
    - bartvk 5y ago
      Disappointing but perhaps not surprising. Your experience is reasonably recent?
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    Either you ask someone who worked there, or you can trawl job postings.
- djxfade 5y ago
  Doesn't the iTunes and App Store backend still run on WebOjbects?
  - alblue 5y ago
    Yes, but while web objects was a first class thing in the objective c world back in 1995 the direction swung due Java from about 1997 onwards — I doubt there’s any non-Java WOA any more. For example, it was developed when 32 bit PowerPC was a thing and I don’t think it ever made it to 64 bit Intel.
danappelxx 5y ago
Depends on the team, it’s a big company. There are definitely swift services internally.
qbasic_forever 5y ago
How's GRPC support for Swift? That to me is more of a tell if anyone is using it for internal infrastructure and services in big companies.
- danappelxx 5y ago
  It’s pretty good, maintained by an Apple engineer. https://github.com/grpc/grpc-swift https://github.com/grpc/grpc-swift
slver 5y ago
They use a lot of Java and Scala. But I'm sure it's inevitable some teams are dogfooding Swift on the server as well. Swift is a very nice language.

Does Apple use Swift (on Linux) for their own backend services?

yakkityyak 5y ago

Not really. It’s mostly Java and Go.

Longhanks 5y ago
How can you tell?
- alblue 5y ago
  I worked there, and yes, most of the server side stuff is in Java and Go.
  - qaq 5y ago
    Do you need both or would just Go do :) ? Hate Java
    - alblue 5y ago
      If you were starting from scratch, you probably would start with a different system. However web objects was their web framework at the time which was ported from objective c to java decades ago and shifting legacy from any technology to another is practically impossible especially if that technology is a cost rather than a product.
    - qaq 5y ago
      I am not sure what is upsetting about the question was honestly wondering how realistic it is to work at Apple on services using primarily Go.
  - bartvk 5y ago
    Disappointing but perhaps not surprising. Your experience is reasonably recent?
- saagarjha 5y ago
  Either you ask someone who worked there, or you can trawl job postings.
djxfade 5y ago
Doesn't the iTunes and App Store backend still run on WebOjbects?
- alblue 5y ago
  Yes, but while web objects was a first class thing in the objective c world back in 1995 the direction swung due Java from about 1997 onwards — I doubt there’s any non-Java WOA any more. For example, it was developed when 32 bit PowerPC was a thing and I don’t think it ever made it to 64 bit Intel.

danappelxx 5y ago

Depends on the team, it’s a big company. There are definitely swift services internally.

qbasic_forever 5y ago

How's GRPC support for Swift? That to me is more of a tell if anyone is using it for internal infrastructure and services in big companies.

danappelxx 5y ago
It’s pretty good, maintained by an Apple engineer. https://github.com/grpc/grpc-swift https://github.com/grpc/grpc-swift

slver 5y ago

They use a lot of Java and Scala. But I'm sure it's inevitable some teams are dogfooding Swift on the server as well. Swift is a very nice language.