Hemendra Singh
Applications or commonly known as apps are the preferred way of accessing the internet on a mobile device. Companies go in for development of apps as they are customised, responsive and offer a much better way of utilising the information or functionality.
Paid versions and in-app advertising will amount to a market of USD 189 billion by in revenues.
In recent years, with the launch of Swift programming language, app development for iOS has undergone a sea change. Developers swear by it and companies are finding it more efficient and effective to use Swift than its predecessor Objective-C.
Let’s explore as to why start-ups would be better off with using Swift for creating applications and what advantages are in store for them.
One of the chief reasons why developers prefer Swift is because it has a very clean syntax or structure to program. This makes it easy to not only read and write but also modify any syntax. The other good thing is that it requires a lesser number of code lines to as compared to Objective-C.
No wonder startups and iOS app developers choose Swift to develop their apps as it reduces the time for development. This also makes it cost-effective in the long run.
Most app development companies charge fees on an hourly basis. So for start-ups, developing apps on the Swift platform not only reduces cost but the turnaround time is also reduced considerably.
It is a myth that the cost of creating an app is a one-time investment. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s because, once the app is out in the market, thousands and millions of users download it. So you need to keep updating it with newer and fresher versions. Furthermore, you also need to track its performance and in the course of time add additional features to it. This makes the app relevant and competitive. Thus, the cost of app management is ongoing.
The problem with Objective-C as a platform to develop an app is that only after the modification of the C language can you modify Objective-C.
On the other hand, Swift does not have any such hassles. This is what makes Swift far easier to maintain with regards to its cost.
The other benefit is that there are more Swift developers in the market than Objective-C programmers, as per a survey by StackOverflow. Also,
Objective-C developers charge higher fees as compared to Swift developers. This makes Swift all the more lucrative from the cost perspective.
Anyone who is in the app development business for mobile devices will vouch that security is of prime importance when developing an app. Thus, for a start-up, just creating an app without due consideration given to security would be a dangerous affair in the long run lest it becomes vulnerable to hacks and security breaches.
This is where Swift scores over Objective-C in the way it handles bugs. Secondly, because it doesn’t have to deal with security codes, its operations become hassle-free, thus enabling better security developments.
Besides that, clean syntax and simple language construction bring down the probability of committing mistakes which were difficult to avoid in Objective-C.
Thus, we could safely say that whatever errors developers were prone to making in Objective-C, the Swift platform eliminates most of those. This ensures the app is reliable and less risky to use.
App developers often complain when the app crashes while in the testing phase. The more codes there are, more is the app susceptible to crashes. This was primarily the issue when working on Objective-C, as it required writing a large number of codes.
On the other hand, Swift is different as it allows developers to manipulate data and strings with its inline support. This reduces the chances of codes being erroneous.
In simple words, app developers need to write lesser codes when using Swift as compared to Objective-C.
Apple designed Swift to be very responsive and quick in its functioning. The reason is that the syntax and the language structure that Swift uses ensures the seamless and efficient working of codes.
In fact, so quick is the performance of Swift that its speed is compatible with that of C++. This makes it one of the fastest algorithms.
Not only is built to be fast but would provide developers high performance owing to its using the LLVM compiler.
If you are a start-up, then you better go with an open-source app development platform. A study has confirmed that businesses save up to USD 60 billion per year on account of using open-source platforms.
In the earlier days, Objective-C held the monopoly for the best iPhone app development feature. But with the launch of Swift, an open source language, start-ups prefer it on account less cost and time of development.
So if developers feel that it there are some improvements to be made in Swift, they can change the source code themselves or give feedback to Apple in real time, so improvements are made on a regular basis; which in turn help in more relevant and futuristic applications.
One major development of Swift over Objective-C that the start-ups would like is the replacement of static libraries with dynamic libraries.
Thus, if the app is made in an older version, the dynamic library will help in linking the app built in older version to the newer version.
The other benefit of dynamic libraries is that it helps in reducing the size of the app. This is useful as it can be downloaded in less amount of time. Thus, to make the app rank higher on app stores and garner better reviews, it is necessary to use Swift.
App development companies who have developed applications using Objective-C can use Swift to create new applications or use its code to enhance features and add functionality to your app.
So on the same project, Swift codes and Objective-C can exist side by side. It also gives you access to the API of Objective-C. Thus, it makes all the more sense to transition to Swift as besides offering interoperability; it is less prone to error. Also, it helps remove codes that are harmful to the application.
Thus, no startup would ever go wrong while using Swift for developing their iOS App.
My name is Hemendra Singh. I am Managing Director and co-founder of The NineHertz, a Mobile App and Web Development Company. My ideology is that a clear vision and hard...
