Swift is Apple’s programming language for developers to use with iOS and OS X devices. Swift has been designed both to work alongside its predecessor, Objective-C, and to one day be Objective-C’s replacement. When you develop apps for iOS or OS X, you use the Xcode development tool (technically an Integrated Development Environment, or IDE), the Cocoa or Cocoa Touch frameworks, and a programming language —either Objective-C or Swift. Swift inherits much of Objective-C’s functionality — anyone comfortable with Objective-C’s types, collections, functions, classes, and flow control will be familiar with those structures in Swift, as well.
Jesse Feiler is a developer, consultant, and author specializing in Apple technologies. He is the creator of Minutes Machine for iPad, the meeting management app, and Saranac River Trail and is heard regularly on WAMC Public Radio for the Northeast’s The Roundtable.