Objective C vs. Swift: Which is Better? (A Definitive Guide)
I hear this question all of the time when Iโm consulting with developers.
Should I be using Objective-C or Swift?
Swift vs. Objective CโItโs a common dilemma for developers. If you start asking around in the industry, youโll hear different responses depending on who you ask.
One person may have had a bad experience with one of these programming languages, so they always steer clear of the other one.
On the flip side, some people just go with whichever language they learned first or feel more comfortable with. Everyone has their favorite.
Create a Mobile App for FREE with BuildFire
The reality is that there isnโt always a clear choice.
Hereโs a quick glance at some of the key highlights for each programming language.
Choosing your language for a project depends on lots of different factors. So I canโt sit here and decisively recommend one over the other.
But what I can do is explain some different circumstances where one may be more appropriate.
This doesnโt necessarily make it better. It just means that it will work best for that particular scenario.
I made this guide to give you some direction so you can make an informed decision for yourself.
What is Objective-C?
Objective-C is the main programming language for Apple OS X and iOS.
Itโs by far the oldest of these two programming languages, and it was first introduced in 1984.
According to Apple, this language offers object-oriented capabilities as well as a dynamic runtime.
Using Objective-C means that youโll get language-level support for your object literals and object graph management.
Objects are a huge component for building iOS and OS X applications. Cocoa or Cocoa Touch will provide you with some of these objects and classes.
The objects are part of the Objective-C classes, especially when they represent values.
Getting familiar with Xcode is a prerequisite to using Objective-C since thatโs the integrated development environment (IDE) youโll be building in.
If youโve never used Objective-C, but youโre familiar with other C-based programming languages such as C# (used by Microsoft) or Java (used by Android), then it shouldnโt be as difficult for you to learn.
For those of you with extensive knowledge of other advanced object-oriented programming languages such as Ruby or Python, you wonโt have trouble learning Objective-C either.
There are lots of established coding rules that you need to follow when youโre writing code in Objective-C.
For example, capitalization matters when youโre writing commands, especially for multiple words, which is referred to as camel case.
Objective-C isnโt perfect and has some problems with ARC (automatic reference counting) supported with Cocoa API and object oriented code. This can lead to memory leaks.
What is Swift?
Swift is a brand new programming language developed by Apple.
It was first released back in June 2014, so iOS developers are still getting used to it. Apple created Swift to work with both Cocoa and Cocoa Touch.
This language works for macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
The basic concepts of Swift are similar to Objective-C at its core, such as the extensible programming, dynamic dispatch, and late binding.
But Swift code stands apart in terms of its ability to catch software bugs. It also addresses things like null pointers, which are common programming errors. Itโs worth noting that Swift supports dynamic libraries.
So how does it stack up when it comes to performance compared to Objective-C?
When Apple introduced Swift 2.0 at the Apple Worldwide Developer conference in 2015, they presented this information.
With such a significantly higher program speed than Objective-C, Swift has to be the clear favorite in terms of developer preference, right?
I wonโt get into that just yet. Weโll talk about that a little later on.
Swift is an open source language. So it was built by both Apple developers as well as outside contributors.
Even in these early years of Swiftโs release, it can already support Linux in addition to all of Appleโs platforms.
I briefly mentioned classes in their relationship to objects earlier during the overview of Objective-C. Well, Swift eliminates lots of classes that are perceived as unsafe code.
By default, Swift objects can never be nil. As a result, itโs a safe and clean way for you to write code. Ultimately this will prevent a large number of crashes.
Swift has a unique feature that is called optionals. With optionals, there are certain instances where nil would be valid, but the syntax makes you deal with it a way thatโs safe and easy to comprehend.
Another benefit of the Swift syntax is that you can define your intent easily with keywords that are only three characters long.
This will save you time coding in the long run. Ultimately, the language features of Swift can really help improve the experience with iOS app development.
Experience and familiarity
When it comes down to deciding which one you should use over another, I always recommend starting with what you have the most experience with.
If youโve been writing Objective-C language for the last five or ten years and never used Swift, thereโs no reason to start right now unless youโre being forced to. If youโre familiar with other object oriented programming languages and object oriented syntax, Objective-C will be easier for you.
Sure, the day may come where youโll have to learn or want to learn another language. But if youโve got lots of projects in your queue, itโs better to just go with what you know best.
On the other hand, if youโre new to the industry, you may have learned Swift before you learned Objective-C.
Again, if thatโs what youโre comfortable with, then go with it.
With that said, depending on your clients, they may request one language over another. If thatโs the case, then obviously youโll need to follow those instructions.
But donโt worry. Learning a new programming language isnโt difficult, itโs just different.
This is especially true if youโve been using Objective-C and now youโre attempting to learn Swift.
It might be a little bit more challenging for those of you that are going to write Objective-C for the first time after only using Swift.
Something else to consider is how much experience and familiarity your team has with these programming languages.
Take a look at which programming languages mobile developers like the most.
As you can see, Objective-C is more popular than Swift, but only marginally. Thatโs incredible for a language thatโs so new. I would imagine that Swiftโs popularity will continue to rise in the coming years.
But letโs say for example youโre working as part of a four person development team.
Youโve only been a developer for a couple of years, so youโre more familiar with Swift. But if everyone else on your team likes Objective-C, it makes more sense to use that for your project.
Itโs easier for one person to learn a new language than for three people to learn a new language, so youโll have to be a team player here and make the adjustment.
Get Started With BuildFire Today!
Pick a template to start designing the app yourself, or let our professional design team build it for you.
- Mobile app development for iOS & Android
- No coding required
- 150+ pre-built features
- Unlimited customization
- 14 day free trial
If you really want to learn another language but donโt have a reason to, consider using the one youโre less familiar with for a prototype.
This will help you get your feet wet without delaying or impacting a full scale project.
Size of your projects
Does size matter? In terms of your programming language, yes.
For small projects, you can use whichever one you want. Itโs easy to make changes. As I just said, you might even consider trying to learn a new language for a small prototype project.
With that said, even though Iโve talked about lots of the positive features of Swift coding, itโs still very new.
So I would not recommend using Swift for very large projects. Thatโs because changes to new versions are tedious and time consuming.
You may find yourself spending hours upon hours converting to new syntaxes even after a minor update. This could also cause broken builds that may last for a few days to even a week, depending on the size of your project.
Nobody wants that.
So donโt put yourself in a position where you get behind schedule, just because you wanted to try out a new programming language.
Timeline
How long does it take to build a mobile app?
Depending on your project, one of the first things youโll do as a developer is set up a timeline.
As you know, itโs very important to make sure that you and your clients are all on the same page when it comes to this estimated timeline.
You donโt want to promise a deadline that you canโt stick to, but you also shouldnโt drag your feet.
If youโre bound by strict timelines, I would say that you wonโt have much time to learn a new language. This is a clear choice to just with what you know best.
For those of you that are new developers and are unfamiliar with both languages, Iโd say you should go with Swift if youโve got a tight deadline.
Swift can help you move faster, but as we just said earlier, there could be some delays down the road as new versions get released. So youโll have to weigh that against how long you think it would take to learn Objective-C, which is harder.
If youโve got a loose timeline with no firm deadline, consider trying the language that youโre less familiar with.
This is a great opportunity to learn a new skill. It will be something that you can add to your resume to make yourself more marketable.
Understanding how to use both languages will also make you an asset to working with other developers in the future.
Support tools, runtime, and stability
You donโt need to find a new IDE if youโve been using Xcode to write iOS apps.
The new Xcode upgrades build process supports the newest versions of Swift.
But again, itโs still new. So if you like the support of all modern IDEs, consider sticking with Objective-C.
AppCode is another option to consider thatโs also compatible with Swift and has tools to support this new language.
Itโs just not as popular as Xcode.
Objective-C has a superior runtime compared to Swift. Itโs probably going to be several years before Swift can catch up.
If youโre using powerful SDKs, Objective-C is also your best option here as well.
Iโd still recommend that new developers start off learning Swift. Itโs the safer option in terms of stability and the ability to handle errors.
APIs, future-proofing, and C++
Objective-C is a better language if youโre planning to make an app thatโs going to use foundation APIs such as:
- CoreFoundation
- AVFoundation
- CoreAnimation
But with that said, Swift has very smooth memory management and wrappers.
However, c-based functions and C APIs both work better with Objective-C. So youโll have to take these points into consideration based on what your project calls for.
Iโd say that Swift is the best for future-proof projects. There is a ton of open source resources for Cocoa projects associated with Swift.
I canโt say for sure, but Iโd say within the next three to five years, Swift will be at the same level or potentially even surpass Objective-C.
Look how high Swift ranks on the list of programming languages that developers plan to learn moving forward.
Itโs hard to look at this graphic and not refer to Swift as Appleโs programming language of the future.
There are also lots of new blogs, articles, and online tutorials out there making it even easier for new developers to learn how to use Swift.
I can only speculate, but ten years from now, Swift may be in a place where new developers wonโt even need to understand Objective-C.
Something else to keep in mind is that C++ is not compatible with Swift. You canโt import these into Swift files.
So if youโve already got code written with C++ libraries, you better stick with Objective-C, or youโll have lots of headaches trying to create wrapper classes or bridging the extra overhead.
Itโs not worth the time.
Switching during an existing project
So letโs say youโre in the middle of a project and after reading all of this information youโre considering switching. Should you do it?
You can actually use both languages.
If youโre working on a project thatโs written in Objective-C, you create a bridging header file in Xcode for your Swift language.
But attempting this will depend on the size of your project.
For those of you who are in the middle of a small project and want to switch, itโs reasonable.
If you want to switch the language for a big project, Iโd recommend converting a little bit at a time. Trying to do it all in one shot can leave your project susceptible to errors and glitches.
Itโs easier to identify and fix any problems if you just focus on a small portion at a time.
Conclusion
So, back to the initial question, which one is better?
Objective-C? Swift programming language?
Youโll have to decide for yourself.
Objective-C is older and currently more popular. Itโs a little bit more difficult to learn, but the majority of developers out there know how to use it.
Swift is still new, but itโs making progress fast. Itโs perceived as a safer option compared to Objective-C, and itโs easier to learn. But with that said, itโs still not the best choice for large projects.
There are certain circumstances where you may lean towards one language over the other based on your experience, your teamโs familiarity, or the size and timeline of your project.
Donโt forget to weigh out the pros and cons of your tooling support, stability, runtime, and APIs.
All of these elements need to be taken into consideration when youโre deciding which language to go with.
Regardless of what you decide, I think that Swift is the programming language of the future. So if you havenโt learned it yet, see if you can find the time to figure it out soon.
Which programming language are you planning to use for your next project?