What’s all this talk about Swift and Objective-C?

Swift is the über-mature Apple-designed programming language for building apps for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

The programming framework for apps preceding Swift is called Objective-C. It is one of many attempts to modernize the c programming language by supporting objects and principles of object oriented programming.

Fun Fact: Objective-C was developed by the NeXT Corporation, a company Steve Jobs founded and that would eventually be purchased by Apple. Much of this software from the 1980s made its way into the mobile device programming framework Cocoa and UIKit.

That said, Objective-C had many drawbacks and Apple replaced it with something much more appropriate for the demands of modern devices, content and users.

What are the trade-offs between Swift and a cross platform framework like React Native?

Developing apps in Swift is the only choice for products that have a high bar for:

• user experience

• customized design elements

• responsiveness

• animation smoothness

• gaming elements

What this means is that building an app for iOS natively with Swift will require a larger up front investment. Using a cross-platform framework, like React Native, we can save some costs up front, but they are often pushed down the road. After you’ve established a viable business model and you want to elevate and extend your mobile app, React Native may limit your options.

However, building the app in Swift will give it the longest possible future. Building in Swift is banking on the success of your app. It says you’re so confident with what you’re building that you don’t care if it’s going to be a little more expensive. Your users demand it.