Which is best for iOS app development – Swift vs Objective-C ?

Jane Brewer August 6, 2022

2 15 3 minutes read

The Apple App Store is the second-largest App store, with 2.22 million available apps. The iOS mobile application development services are increasing rapidly. With the emergence of advanced tools and technologies, iOS developers can deliver futuristic and secure solutions.

In order to choose the right technology stack, the battle between Swift and Objective C continues. Both Swift and Objective C are popular and help developers to build native iOS apps, and objective C is the official and oldest programming language. On the other hand, Swift is modern and designed to overcome the major challenges of Objective C.

In this blog, let’s discuss Swift and Objective C programming languages and highlight the major differences one should consider for the project as per the requirements.

Overview: Swift

According to Wikipedia, “Swift is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm, compiled programming language developed by Apple Inc. It was developed as a replacement for Apple’s earlier programming language Objective-C. Earlier Swift was designed to work with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks.

Based on open source technology
Known as the powerful, modern, and intuitive programming language
Majorly supports iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS
Launched under Apache License 2.0

Objective C

Objective C is the primary and official Apple programming language, and it is the oldest platform to build iOS applications developers using it since the year 1984.

Used for writing codes for OS X and iOS.
Objective C is known as the mature language as it has existed for more than 30 years. It is well tested, and several documentation is also available online.
Majorly developers prefer Objective C as it is compatible with the older versions.
This technology is stable; it doesn’t require frequent updates.

Why should you choose Objective C over Swift?

Well Tested Programming Language

Objective C is the oldest and well tested programming language. It is reliable and different projects are delivered by utilizing its functionalities. iOS developers have hands-on experience on this technology which ensures them to deliver successful applications in the market.

Compatible with C++

Objective C programming language belongs to the C family, making it compatible with C and C++. Swift doesn’t support C++ language.

Why should you choose Swift over Objective C?

Less Coding Structure

Swift is known for its concise coding structure. Its modern functionalities simplify the code development process and reduce the requirement for an extensive range of codes. Swift codes are easy to read and maintain for the projects.

Open Source Technology

Swift is based on open source technology that allows developers to leverage the benefits of the updated ready-to-use codes. With open source codes, developers can modify the codes in terms of adding, editing and deleting as per the project’s need, which helps them save vast amounts of time and effort.

Cross Platform

Initially, Swift was designed to replace Objective C and to develop solutions for Apple devices, including iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS. But now, with the advancements, this technology supports more platforms and usage is expanded further to Linux, Windows, and Android.

Supports Third Party API

Swift programming language supports third-party API integration services that turn the development process more accessible and faster. With different API, developers can integrate a wide range of features into the solutions. With Swift development, programmers can add multiple functionalities to the solutions via a simple API.

Difference between Swift and Objective C

On the basis	Objective C	Swift
Performance	Low as compared to Swift	High performance compared to Objective C
Learning Curve	Objective C is hard to learn for the developers, as they have to understand the long concepts in detail	Swift is easy to learn and understand. It offers easy development process with modern functionalities
Supports Versions	Objective C supports older versions	Swift the modern programming language doesn’t support any older versions
Safety	Objective C is the oldest technology and it still supports old security techniques. Developer’s use to update it but Objective C can’t match the Swift security trends	Swift is the modern technology that is designed to offer secure solutions.With the updated versions Apple turns it more secure with the latest security technologies and methods.
Syntax	Objective C has difficult syntax	Swift offers easy syntax
Documentation	Objective C has complete documentation on an online platform that helps developers to overcome the major challenges and know more about this language.	Swift is modern and still developers are working on it to update the documentations as per the latest technologies and versions.

Conclusion

Both Swift and Objective C are popular Apple programming languages. In the above blog, we have mentioned all about Swift and Objective C and have also provided the major differences that should be considered before choosing between Swift VS Objective – C.

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Which is best for iOS app development – Swift vs Objective-C ?