Swift vs Objective-C: The Ideal Choice For iOS App Development

We have done a lot of comparison blog posts- comparison between programming languages, cross-platform frameworks, operating systems, and more. We compared the two popular Android app development languages in our previous blog Kotlin vs Java, and today our focus will be on iOS app development languages where we will compare Objective-C with its counterpart Swift. In this blog post, we will walk you through the difference between Swift and Objective-C in terms of performance, development speed, etc.

Swift vs Objective-C

Swift and Objective-C are the two programming languages used for iOS development. While Objective-C has been in action for nearly four decades, Swift, on the other hand, is relatively new. Though both languages are good in their own ways, iOS developers or project managers are often in a state of turmoil when picking anyone for an iOS project.

Although there is a myriad of features to compare, we have listed a few important ones to consider when choosing between Swift and Objective-C for iOS application development.

An Overview

Objective-C was the standard programming language used to develop macOS and iOS applications, using their respective APIs Cocoa and Cocoa touch until Swift arrived in 2014. One important thing to note here is that Swift isn’t a replacement for Objective-C. Yes, both have different capabilities but can be simultaneously used for iOS development.

1. Swift vs Objective-C: Development Environment

A development environment, which is a collection of tools and procedures used to develop, test, and debug a software application, is one of the important things to look at when choosing a programming language.

Objective-C uses Xcode for that matter, though other environments like AppCode or Visual Studio can be used too, however, they will require Xcode underneath to function properly. Xcode provides developers with almost everything they would need to build an iOS application- tools, APIs, compilers, and frameworks.

Xcode is generated with Cocoa and Cocoa Touch, the latter being the iOS application development environment. However, if you opt for Swift, Cocoa Touch lets you create apps for Apple TV and Apple Watch too.

This isn’t the only difference though between Objective-C and Swift when we talk about the development environment. Swift also introduces us to Swift Playgrounds, which primarily helps us learn to code and explore coding in Swift, but can also be used as an environment to test small parts of the code without compiling the entire code or creating an entire application.

Swift comes out as the winner here as apart from its ability to work in the same environment as that in Objective-C, it lets iOS developers gain access to modern solutions.

2. Swift vs Objective-C: Development Speed

Development speed can prove to be an important factor if the app needs to be built or marketed faster. Swift wins in this race as it can reduce the lines of code by up to 70% in comparison to the coding done in Objective-C. One popular example is Lyft which got rid of around 60% of code when they migrated from Objective-C to Swift. Reducing the lines of code not only accelerates the development process but also minimizes error possibilities during testing. Besides, Swift was created with the LLVM compiler framework, which translates the assembly language to the machine code and optimizes the code, thereby speeding up the development process.

Swift also has a clear and concise syntax. Developers do not need to create two code blocks for implementation and class interface, thus resulting in lesser code lines. So just like the name, Swift is indeed swift. And because of its simple syntax, it’s also easy for beginners to learn.

3. Swift vs Objective-C: Performance

Apple claims Swift to be 2.6x faster than Objective-C. Being a successor of Objective-C, it was kind of expected that the Apple team would keep a great focus on the performance factor in Swift and work on areas where Objective-C lacked. Although the latter comprises a Garbage collector, the effectiveness isn’t at par with the Swift code. What makes Swift outperform Objective-C is its simple syntax and the compilation type checking. Swift also supports dynamic libraries which helps boost the application’s performance. Additionally, it uses Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) to track and manage an application’s memory usage. What ARC does is that it automatically frees up the space consumed by class instances when they are no longer needed.

4. Swift vs Objective-C: User Interface

An application’s User Interface or UI can be a point of discussion when we are talking about Native vs Cross-platform development. Since both Swift and Objective-C are native iOS languages, there is negligible difference in the way the application looks and performs (from the UI perspective). The difference between Swift and Objective-C here revolves around iOS compatibility and the ease of UI development.

Since Objective -C is a very old language, it would be compatible with every iOS version. Swift, on the other hand, being a modern-day language, won’t likely run on iOS devices with versions less than iOS 7. So consider this carefully before you make a choice between Swift and Objective-C. If you are thinking to go with the former, remember that you won’t be able to cater to those iPhone devices which are running below iOS 7 or launched after 2013.

Speaking of the ease of UI development, Swift has an edge over Objective-C as it consists of SwiftUI that helps develop amazing-looking apps across Apple platforms using Swift, and with as little code as possible. This design toolkit is compatible with devices running on iOS 13 and above.

Conclusion

From the above-mentioned factors, Swift comes out as the ideal choice for iOS development today. Modern-day developers too prefer Swift over Objective-C. But as we said, even if you have your app built with Objective-C, you always have the option to migrate it to Swift without having to rewrite the entire application.