Native Mobile App Development: Swift vs. Objective-C

If you’ve recently decided to have a mobile app developed, then you’ve likely been asked whether you’ll be targeting a native app or a hybrid app. If you answered “native app,” you’ll have to figure out what language you want the app written in. 

Believe it or not, what you choose will have a significant effect on the short-term and long-term success of your app. While they’ll each come with their own respective pros and cons, there’s a good chance there’s one that will work best with your wants and needs.

To determine which one is best for you, it’s essential to understand the differences between the two. Don’t worry; we’ll break it all down below!

What is Swift?

Swift is a programming language that was released in 2014 as an easier, faster, and safer alternative to its predecessor, Objective-C — which we will get into soon. What makes Swift unique is it was made by Apple, and it was made exclusively for iOS apps. 

It uses a protocol-oriented design for coding, which was a step up from what was used in Objective-C. Many developers were excited to use it when it was first released because it still managed to uphold the many features that were loved in Objective-C.

Since its release, developers have sworn by it as a way to construct quality iOS apps. In recent years, it has even beat out Objective-C as one of the most-loved languages in programming. The popularity is only expected to grow for Swift and has been a big hit with startups and smaller apps. 

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What is Objective-C?

Objective-C is what most developers used before Swift came into prominence. It used an object-oriented design that allowed any C program to be compiled with an Objective-C translator. 

With Objective-C, the non-object-oriented syntax will be derived from C, while the object-oriented syntax will be derived from SmallTalk — another programming language. 

Objective-C was released in 1984, a whopping 30 years before Swift was released. The massive difference has led Objective-C to be much more mature and stable than the much-newer Swift. 

What makes Swift more appealing than Objective-C?

Aside from it being what’s new in iOS programming language, Swift will continue to be the go-to language for developers looking to build a native app — for a good reason, too. 

Let’s take a look at some of the significant benefits of having your mobile app written in Swift:

1. Easier to Make – When using Objective-C, the code requires a wide variety of end-lines, semi-colons, and symbols. With Swift, syntax is much easier to write and therefore is much easier to read. Cleaner code means your developers can work much quicker while limiting the number of mistakes made.
2. Faster – Swift has prided itself on being able to withstand the demand for high-speed performance with modern technology. Studies show that Swift has similar performance to the C++ and that Xcode 6.3 has even increased the performance of the GEMM algorithm. With more improvements being made each year, it’s only expected to get faster.
3. Safer – Mistakes can be made when writing code, and it can lead to massive delays, disruptions, and performance bugs down the road. Swift will alert you anytime “bad code” is written, resolving a concern that was left with Objective-C.
4. Open-Source Project – Objective-C was known for having too many name collisions during development, a problem that was resolved with Swift by being an open-source project. This means anyone can see the code and will typically be community-driven.
5. Memory Management – Managing memory was a considerable concern with Objective-C due to automatic reference counting (ARC). Swift prevents these massive memory leaks by making ARC complete with the code paths and procedures.
6. Dynamic Libraries – Swift uses dynamic libraries instead of static libraries, which will reduce the executable file size of the app. This means faster updates, a more responsive iOS ecosystem, and enhanced performance.

Apple has proven to be highly invested in Swift being used with mobile development, making it one of the fastest-growing program languages we’ve ever seen. If considering an iOS native mobile app, you’ll get the best bang for your buck by choosing Swift.

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Does that mean Objective-C is completely dead?

Swift is constantly growing and will continue to be the preferred choice over Objective-C, but that doesn’t mean Objective-C is dead. In fact, there’s still a wide variety of companies and apps that work exclusively with Objective-C. 

Objective-C makes it extremely easy to adapt at runtime, which can be used during unit testing. They will typically provide a more stable and reliable app, while also being highly compatible with C and C++ code. 

At the same time, the syntax is hard to understand for many upcoming developers and will often lead to some challenging bug fixes. Another major downfall with Objective-C is the fear of Apple doing away with their support of Objective-C. If that happens, we will finally start to see the real death of Objective-C.

For the time being, Objective-C is good to know since a lot of large companies still use it. At the same time, Swift is what’s being preferred with newer companies, startups, and small app builds. 

For that reason, Swift will continue to be preferred and trusted by native mobile app developers around the world. If you’re interested in getting started with your next project, contact us today, and we’ll be glad to set up a free consultation to discuss your needs.

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