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Dannysj7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2016
13
0
Has anyone tried the Swift Playground in their iPad? Because Apple looks like aiming to bring XCode to the iPad.. will there be any version that looks like a lite version of XCode?
 

deadworlds

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,027
758
Citrus Heights,CA
I have played with it today for a few hours. I actually enjoy it even though it's pretty easy stuff, What I like about it that's its like playing a game. As it only supports the swift programming language and I am most fluent in C++, I have not really had time to really tests its capabilities. I have instead taken my time learning the swift syntax. I could see this app turning into a more general purpose coding app but who knows if Apple will open it up to that. As it stands, the apple playground website states that you can start a project inside playgroud and then transfer it over to Xcode to finish it here. So I could see this being used to quickly prototype programs and even use it as inspirations for projects or a starting point.
 

Dannysj7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2016
13
0
I have played with it today for a few hours. I actually enjoy it even though it's pretty easy stuff, What I like about it that's its like playing a game. As it only supports the swift programming language and I am most fluent in C++, I have not really had time to really tests its capabilities. I have instead taken my time learning the swift syntax. I could see this app turning into a more general purpose coding app but who knows if Apple will open it up to that. As it stands, the apple playground website states that you can start a project inside playgroud and then transfer it over to Xcode to finish it here. So I could see this being used to quickly prototype programs and even use it as inspirations for projects or a starting point.
Which means that the Swift Playground has all the xcode ios libraries too? I found it quite useful and convenient for all developers if the swift playground looks alike the lite version of xcode.
 

deadworlds

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,027
758
Citrus Heights,CA
Which means that the Swift Playground has all the xcode ios libraries too? I found it quite useful and convenient for all developers if the swift playground looks alike the lite version of xcode.
I have no way of answering that. As I stated I'm better at c++ and I've never actually coded anything in Xcode So I can't confirm about what libraries are included in playgrounds. Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable on these matters could answer your questions.
 

deadworlds

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,027
758
Citrus Heights,CA
I just watched the swift playgrounds presentation at WWDC today and it turned out that you have full access to the iOS SDK. They even showed a demo of using Bluetooth to control a small robot and make it move around and change its LED colors. Seems promising. I encourage you to get the WWDC app and watch the video called "Introducing swift playgrounds"
 

oftheheavens

macrumors 68000
Jul 9, 2008
1,988
498
cherry point
Wish it was comparable with iPad 2 or iPad mini because my kid really wants to start using this and those are the only two devices that I can afford to put the beta on. I use my ipp for work so can't afford to load the beta just for my kid to play around with the swift playground.
 

xrevilationx

macrumors member
Feb 29, 2016
33
12
Will we be able to get the public release of iOS 10 in the fall? Or are we stuck in the developers preview?
 

Dannysj7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2016
13
0
It seems like only 64 bit devices can only support the highly anticipated swift playground. M:(
 

Infrared

macrumors 68000
Mar 28, 2007
1,715
65
There's lots of potential here, but the editor is so awkward to use, I feel it may drive me insane!

For example, if I'm starting off a variable definition with "var timer" and hit the spacebar, the editor auto-expands that into "var observationInfo: UnsafeMutableRawPointer?". It's always automatically expanding these things, and badly too.

And simply getting a cursor insertion point is difficult. The editor wants to select things rather than place the cursor in the text. This is contrary to how things normally work in iOS.

I'd love to use something like this that could be used for real coding, but the editor is an obstacle. It's such a pity.
 

Sirious

macrumors 68000
Jan 2, 2013
1,660
2,824
United Kingdom, London
I wonder if one day they'll actually let you code from your iPad and get apps on the App Store that way. Seems really weird that they're training younger kids to code, and then expect them to have a Mac to make the actual apps.

The iPad Pro is not a "Pro" device until it lets people do things like coding.
 
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