iOS Straight To Swift or Objective C

[oo7ml]

Hi, i've been building websites for the last 12 years, mainly front end html and css, with a small bit of backend php and mysql.

I am now hoping to dive into the world of App Development and i have a few questions which i hope someone can help me with please:

01 - Should i go straight to learning Swift or should i start with Objective C
02 - Do you have to have Xcode 6 to use Swift
03 - Can i download Xcode 6 or do i have to wait until it is officially released
04 - Can anyone recommend a good source / book for learning Swift
05 - Any other advice about starting off in iOS development would be greatly appreciated, especially considering i am coming from more of a front end background

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[Ubuntu]

Hi, i've been building websites for the last 12 years, mainly front end html and css, with a small bit of backend php and mysql.

I am now hoping to dive into the world of App Development and i have a few questions which i hope someone can help me with please:

01 - Should i go straight to learning Swift or should i start with Objective C
02 - Do you have to have Xcode 6 to use Swift
03 - Can i download Xcode 6 or do i have to wait until it is officially released
04 - Can anyone recommend a good source / book for learning Swift
05 - Any other advice about starting off in iOS development would be greatly appreciated, especially considering i am coming from more of a front end background

Thanks in advance for you help.

1. Objective-C as it's a developed language whereas Swift is still very much a work in progress - albeit one with great promise so I'd definitely look towards using it in the future.

2. Yes.

3. If you're enrolled on the developer program (so you pay your $99) you can use Xcode 6 beta now. Otherwise you'll have to wait.

4. Check iBooks - there are two Swift books from Apple.

5. Follow the guides provided by Apple (Your First App is a great one) and then when you're a bit more comfortable with iOS development I'd look at watching the whole Stanford iOS development course available on iTunes U (for free!)

 

[oo7ml]

Thanks so much for your help, much appreciated.

 

[loon3y]

it seems much more simple, no more stupid header files and declaring stuff with pointers.


im not where near a great programmer so the transition is still hard for me, but it looks cool.

someone told me it reminds them of power builder.

 

[chrono1081]

1. Objective-C as it's a developed language whereas Swift is still very much a work in progress - albeit one with great promise so I'd definitely look towards using it in the future.

2. Yes.

3. If you're enrolled on the developer program (so you pay your $99) you can use Xcode 6 beta now. Otherwise you'll have to wait.

4. Check iBooks - there are two Swift books from Apple.

5. Follow the guides provided by Apple (Your First App is a great one) and then when you're a bit more comfortable with iOS development I'd look at watching the whole Stanford iOS development course available on iTunes U (for free!)

Whats the second one called? I only see one...

 

[SilentPanda]

Whats the second one called? I only see one...

There is Swift and also Using Swift with Cocoa and Objective-C. If you go to the very very last page of the Swift book you can find a link for the other. Of course you can search also in the iBooks store for it too but that's how I found it the other day on accident.

 

[firewood]

You're in in-between or no-man's land.

Either wait 6 months or so and learn Swift, or start with Objective C now (which might become obsolete for any completely new app in a year or two).

 

[Ubuntu]

Swift Programming Language

Using Swift with Cocoa and Objective

 

[omenatarhuri]

Hi, i've been building websites for the last 12 years, mainly front end html and css, with a small bit of backend php and mysql.

I am now hoping to dive into the world of App Development and i have a few questions which i hope someone can help me with please:

01 - Should i go straight to learning Swift or should i start with Objective C
02 - Do you have to have Xcode 6 to use Swift
03 - Can i download Xcode 6 or do i have to wait until it is officially released
04 - Can anyone recommend a good source / book for learning Swift
05 - Any other advice about starting off in iOS development would be greatly appreciated, especially considering i am coming from more of a front end background

Thanks in advance for you help.

1. I wouldn't bother with Obj-C, it's quite... uh. Well. Go ahead with learning Swift unless you have a killer idea right now that you have to get out there for the largest possible install base.
4. I really like the Apple book, it's a nice read.
5. Don't think too much and just get started.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I'm already 60% through the Obj-C book. I have been switching between ObjC and Swift books.

 

[s2mikey]

I'm already 60% through the Obj-C book. I have been switching between ObjC and Swift books.

I'm also working through the Objective C book. So far, it's been OK but some of the syntax and ways of doing things does seem tedious and irritating. I'm just going to be ticked if I finally start becoming proficient with Obj C and then Swift takes over. It'll be back to the drawing board then for me.

Guess I picked a bad time to dive into all of this. I should have done it a year ago OR just waited six more months. Oh well.

 

[1458279]

One thing you should consider is what kind of apps you are looking to write. Some games are written without ObjC/Swift by only using something like Unity.

As far as what to learn, I'd probably skip ObjC _IF_ Swift catches on. It's a big IF. Just because Apple wants something, doesn't mean it'll take.

ObjC is not exactly like most other languages and the learning curve is up there a bit, esp if you're new to these type of languages.

A lot of what's overlooked by new app developers is learning the APIs and how to program in any language.

You probably have a handle on programming, so that's a leg up. If you understand Object-Oriented programming, that's even better.

If you're looking at non-game type apps, I'd wait for Swift.

I plan on keeping with ObjC and waiting to see what advantages Swift offers for what I'm doing, but I have a C++/C# background.

Swift also does nothing for cross platform, where as C/C++ is supported elsewhere, so base routines can be made more universal.

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I'm also working through the Objective C book. So far, it's been OK but some of the syntax and ways of doing things does seem tedious and irritating. I'm just going to be ticked if I finally start becoming proficient with Obj C and then Swift takes over. It'll be back to the drawing board then for me.

Guess I picked a bad time to dive into all of this. I should have done it a year ago OR just waited six more months. Oh well.

I don't think you'll be "back to the drawing board" because as I understand it, Swift and ObjC work side-by-side, so you don't have to stop using what you already know.

In fact, you might not even have a reason to use/learn Swift at all, depending on you goals.

If you have a large ObjC app already done/near done, no reason to start over with Swift.

Some devs write as many apps as they can, other focus on making one great app, others develop on a contract bases or at a job.

It could be a while before the Swift jobs hit the market as the developers would be new vs ObjC devs might already have a few years under the belt.

 

[AxoNeuron]

I'm new to iOS development myself. I started learning objective C last month and I am already making simple apps and putting them on my iPhone. I downloaded Xcode 6 and every time I build an app from scratch on it I get an error during compiling that says "Signal SIGABRT" and I can't really move past it. It also crashes a lot. Definitely a beta for experienced developers only.

I would recommend becoming an enrolled developer and paying the $99 fee, it's worth it just to be able to run your own apps on your own devices. I run ios 8 beta on my iPhone and it runs even better than it did with iOS 7, not very many bugs. I build the app, save the project, and then run the app on my iPhone with Xcode 6 beta and that seems to work just fine as long as I built the app in Xcode 5.

I am personally learning objective c first because swift is so new and there aren't very resources and tutorials for total beginners out for it yet.

 

[oo7ml]

I'm new to iOS development myself. I started learning objective C last month and I am already making simple apps and putting them on my iPhone. I downloaded Xcode 6 and every time I build an app from scratch on it I get an error during compiling that says "Signal SIGABRT" and I can't really move past it. It also crashes a lot. Definitely a beta for experienced developers only.

I would recommend becoming an enrolled developer and paying the $99 fee, it's worth it just to be able to run your own apps on your own devices. I run ios 8 beta on my iPhone and it runs even better than it did with iOS 7, not very many bugs. I build the app, save the project, and then run the app on my iPhone with Xcode 6 beta and that seems to work just fine as long as I built the app in Xcode 5.

I am personally learning objective c first because swift is so new and there aren't very resources and tutorials for total beginners out for it yet.

Ok cool, thanks... is there any book you would recommend for starting out.

 

[JohnsonK]

I downloaded Xcode 6 and every time I build an app from scratch on it I get an error during compiling that says "Signal SIGABRT" and I can't really move past it.

This part is most likely your fault

 

[AdonisSMU]

I'm also working through the Objective C book. So far, it's been OK but some of the syntax and ways of doing things does seem tedious and irritating. I'm just going to be ticked if I finally start becoming proficient with Obj C and then Swift takes over. It'll be back to the drawing board then for me.

Guess I picked a bad time to dive into all of this. I should have done it a year ago OR just waited six more months. Oh well.

I'm mainly using ObjC book as a way to get familiar with the Xcode environment. I'm looking to switch to SWIFT right away for the actual building of my app...