Swift vs Objective-C. Which iOS Language To Choose

As you know, Objective-C has proven to be stable and has been used for many years in development. On the other hand, the newest programming language, Swift, gives lots of benefits and a more modern way of coding.

You don't know what the difference between Swift and Objective-C is and which language is better for your project. Learn the detailed comparison Swift vs Objective-C to make your choice.

Such programming languages as Objective-C and Swift are used to code the Apple software products under macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, CarPlay, and Linux (only for Swift) operating systems. These languages have the appropriate app programming interfaces (APIs) and frameworks (Cocoa, Cocoa Touch). Objective-C appeared in the late 80s and influenced Smalltalk (for object-oriented syntax) and C (for non-object) programming languages. The difference between these two languages is that Swift is not based on the C language. Swift doesn't have any inheritance and is just compilable with C libraries and frameworks. It owns more powerful tools and modern coding solutions for easier, but expressive coding, app safety, and performance. Besides, the language is intuitive, and that's why it is easier to learn for new developers.

One the more difference is in the way the code is presented. Swift’s code is unified and has easier syntax, while, working with Objective-C, the code is divided into 2 code blocks:

• header (interface) files (.h) 
• implementation files (.m) 

Objective-C was created in the 1980s by the company Stepstone, by Brad Cox and Tom Love. Later, the Objective-C trademark spread to Apple Computers. Objective-C has been a standard programming language for macOS and, later, iOS and other Apple platforms since then. The main specification is in its maturity, as it has been used and tested for many years for Apple’s software.

On the other hand, Swift is not limited to Apple OS. It became an open source and cross-platform programming language in 2015. This takes away the unsafe pointer management and at the same time gives interaction with long-standing Objective-C and C code bases. Nowadays Apple Inc. promotes the use of Swift and gives constant language version updates.

Advantages of Objective-C over Swift in 2018

1- Objective-C is an approved, well-tested language

As it has already been said before, Objective-C is trustworthy and has been used and tested by many developers. There are a lot of projects written in Objective-C and there are many great third-party frameworks.

2- Objective-C is more stable

Since Swift is still developing as a language, its versions are regularly updated that's why applications written in Swift must be migrated to the newest version. As a result, it takes time and money. On the other hand, when an app is written in Objective-C, these operations are unnecessary.

3- Easier usage of private APIs

In cases where a specific custom solution is needed for the project (e.g. specific color change or integration), Objective-C is simpler to connect with private APIs. Since Swift is always developing, it is not stable and this may lead to some crashes from these sorts of connections.

4- Objective-C is easily compatible with C++

Since it has routes from a C language, products, having parts of C or C++ code, run smoothly. However, Swift is incompatible with the C++ language.

Benefits of Using Swift

1- Swift is faster

The performance of Swift is almost the same as that of C++, which is considered the fastest in algorithm calculation arithmetics. Apple had this idea in mind and worked to improve the speed of Swift. For example, Swift 2.0 has beaten C++ in several computation algorithms, such as Mandelbrot algorithm. Objective-C is slower because it contains C API legacy.

Swift is faster than Objective-C, because it removed the limitations of C language and has been improved with the help of advanced technologies that were unavailable when C was developed. As mentioned by Apple, Swift was originally designed to operate faster.

Despite the fact that languages are different, they both integrate, and work with Cocoa and Cocoa Touch APIs, for all Apple platforms. Therefore, a regular app-user would not recognize the difference in operating speed between Objective-C vs Swift. Speed also depends on a programmer’s level and capabilities, since a slow app can be written in Swift as well.

2- Swift is safer

Nowadays, an app’s data security is a substantial characteristic of a successful product. The construction of Swift has been designed to exclude and avoid mistakes with the help of its features – generics, optionals, and type interference to achieve app stability. Therefore, apps developed in Swift are less prone to bugs and crashes.

3- Swift is more readable

To start, code in Swift more closely resembles English, making it easier to read and requiring less time to check the code. As well, in general, it requires far fewer lines of code for the same feature. Swift is easy to read by JavaScript, Java, Python, C#, and C++ programmers who are able to use it to some extent.

4- Swift has less code

Swift is a more compact language for programming. However, this fact doesn’t imply code simplicity, of course. At times, it can be very difficult to write, but it brings more benefits and is highly reusable. The latter point cannot be applied to Objective-C.

5- Swift is less error-prone

Swift’s syntax and language constructions exclude the several types of mistakes potentially possible in Objective-C. This control means fewer crashes and cases of unexpected behavior. This, however, does not prevent bad code from being written, of course, but a developer is better protected from making unwanted mistakes. This can be called “ quality control,” in a way.

6- Swift integrates with memory management

What about Objective-C vs Swift memory management? ARC (Automatic Reference Counting), the memory management functionality inside the Clang compiler, manages the memory of digital objects. This is easily handled with Swift working across procedural and object-oriented code using Cocoa API. With regard to Objective-C, procedural code works with Corel Graphic API and it is the developer's responsibility to control it.

Hence, in Swift coding, unified memory management developers should not give attention to each digital object, but rather concentrate on the general logic of the application and its features.

7- Swift is an open-source language

Swift was originally created for Apple platforms (iOS, OS X, watchOS, tvOS) and was further expanded to Linux. Its creators understood the fact that to build a remarkable modern programing language, it should be available for everyone. Swift helped to develop many third-party frameworks & tools and has resulted in a growing community.

As well, Swift code is more portable to other platforms than Objective-C could ever be.

8- Swift has interactive coding

Swift Playgrounds makes it possible to test code on the spot without compiling big pieces of it or creating the whole app. Playgrounds visualize data and programmers can quickly check and correct everything along with further development.

9- Swift is closer to other platforms

Swift is easier to understand for non-iOS developers. It can be used as a script language.

10- Swift is Apple’s ongoing focus

Apple Inc. is concentrating on evolving Swift as its core programming language.

Disadvantages of Objective-C in 2018

1- Harder to learn

Objective-C is a distinct language which differs in syntax from other programming languages. Its memory management is more complex and has the legacy necessary to be understood by C and Smalltalk. Objective-C has a higher barrier for new developers because of complicated syntax and coding conditions.

2- Less qualified Objective-C developers

It can be complicated to find a proper Objective-C developer. Their number is modestly decreasing as new developers are learning mostly Swift and others are switching from Objective-C to Swift.

Swift - New iOS Programming Language

Let's look at the advantages of Swift over the Objective-C programming language.

Disadvantages of Using Swift

1- Slower compilation speed

Compilation (transforming source code into binary/ machinery code) speed is much slower in Swift projects.

2- No ABI stability

ABI defines the communication rules for a machine code. This mostly matters in larger projects, when compiling part of the application with a few Swift versions. Therefore, in order to provide stable communication in a binary code of different compiler versions, ABI should be stable and well-structured. This can result in some problems with Swift frameworks across Swift versions.

3- Absence of C++ import

If your project is highly dependant on C++, Swift is not an iOS language that should be chosen for this task.

Follow this article to learn more detailed information about the differences between Swift and Objective-C, and find out what language is better for iOS development.