4 ms·
As a language, it’s quite nice but slow. Runtime speed is so-so, compilation speed is awful. I really wish it were actually swift! Feels very similar to Kotlin
by iainmerrick 5y ago
As a language, it’s quite nice but slow. Runtime speed is so-so, compilation speed is awful. I really wish it were actually swift!
Feels very similar to Kotlin on the whole.
It’s definitely being adopted by Mac and iOS developers for apps (although the only real alternative is Objective-C). And there are a few build tools and the like using Swift -- many with installation instructions for Linux! -- although I think on a very small scale compared to C/C++, Rust, Go, Java and Node.
If anyone’s seriously using Swift on the server, I’d be surprised (but interested to hear about it).
- jamil7 5y ago> compilation speed is awful This really needs to be addressed, it's one of the few real bummers about the language which I otherwise love and use everyday. I'm also concerned the way more and more language features (mostly for library and framework authors) are getting piled on, it can't help compilation speed.
- iainmerrick 5y agoStrongly agreed. Swift isn't alone, the Kotlin compiler is very slow too (and yoked to Gradle, which is itself very slow). Rust as well. Maybe the Go authors are onto something after all. When Go first came out, I thought their emphasis on compilation speed was just an overreaction to C++, because a) C compiles plenty fast, b) C++ is only slow if you overuse templates, c) other languages compile faster than C++, right? and d) Moore's law! But a) hardly anyone uses C now, b) everyone overuses C++ templates, c) other languages compile way slower than C++, d) compilers got slower faster than computers got faster. Even now, Xcode can feel very slick and fast in a tightly-written C/C++/Obj-C project.