Swift for Programmers

Reviews / Votes

"Apple took everyone by surprise when they announced a new programming language for developing Mac and iOS applications. Taking lessons from Objective-C and many other languages, Apple built a new language from the ground up. There is a lot to learn-new syntax, new idioms and more. It all seems daunting, but the Deitels have written a book that thoroughly explores Swift and Xcode 6 and guides you through what you need to know, regardless of which language you came from."

-Robert McGovern, Independent Developer



"An excellent introduction to Apple's new programming language. Line-by-line code explanations. Practical real-world abstractions throughout the code. Full of links to great resources. Features are introduced by comparison to established programming concepts making Swift easy to learn for developers new to Apple's platforms. A must-read."

-Rene Cacheaux, iOS Architect, Mutual Mobile



"It's surprising that a book of this quality, depth and breadth has appeared so soon after Swift was announced. The ideal accompaniment to Apple's reference documentation. This developers' book takes an in-depth look at Swift. Whether you're moving to the Apple ecosystem from a C++, C# or Java background or you're an Objective-C programmer looking to update your skills to this newest and most exciting of Apple's languages, this book is for you. Complements the Deitels' excellent book iOS 8 for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach with Swift and maintains their trademark high-quality approach, containing many interactive, nontrivial code examples with in-depth code walkthroughs and best practices. Uses the power of Swift with Cocoa's Foundation classes. A must-have for any serious Apple developer."

-Rik Watson, Technical Team Lead for HP Enterprise Services (Applications Services)



"Perfect for the Objective-C developer looking to quickly learn Apple's newest language. You'll learn how to incorporate new Swift features such as tuples, closures and generics into your existing Objective-C projects. You'll appreciate Swift's built-in error handling while working through real-world examples in Xcode playgrounds."

-Scott Bossack, Lead iOS Developer, Thrillist Media Group



"The chapters are comprehensive, covering simple use cases to complex challenges Swift is distinctly suited for. The code examples often represent day-to-day programming challenges. A wonderful learning tool and a handy reference for experienced developers."

-Ash Furrow, iOS Developer, Artsy



"With Swift-based IOS 8 and OS X development the Deitel magic continues. They guide you through Swift with increasingly complex projects. They also offer valuable software engineering tips, performance improvements and techniques for preventing common errors. Whether your programming background is Java, C#, C++ or Objective-C, you will benefit from this valuable book. There is no question that Swift is Apple's programming language of the future. This book by Paul and Harvey Deitel will be your guide to that future."

-Charles Brown, Independent Contractor affiliated with Apple and Adobe



"Fantastic, especially for those involved in iOS and OS X development. Complete examples help explain concepts clearly. Great combination of Swift topics and helpful real-world tips on working with Cocoa's Foundation classes, software engineering, performance, and error prevention. Highly recommended."

-Jack Watson-Hamblin, Programming Writer and Teacher, MotionInMotion



"The explanation of hash tables in the Dictionaries chapter is a plus; includes important tips, helping you avoid common roadblocks; every code sample is provided as a playground, letting you try out and modify the samples-cool! Great example on when to use an implicitly unwrapped failable initializer; liked how Chapter 8 kept building upon the Time class; validating property values via property observers is a nice practical tip. The Structs chapter includes great tips such as defining struct custom initializers in extensions so that you continue to get access to the autogenerated memberwise initializer, saving developers time. Great nested type example. Includes the all-important advice about when to use reference types vs. value types. Chapter 10 has a nice introduction to polymorphism; great real-world examples, including a practical illustration on how to use protocols. Perfect introduction to generics. Love the NSDecimalNumber arithmetic operator overload example in Chapter 12-it illustrates Swift's expressiveness while working with Objective-C code; this treatment of operator overloading and associated topics is very complete and includes great tips."

-Rene Cacheaux, iOS Architect, Mutual Mobile



"I loved how the Dictionary examples represent problems programmers actually face. The Classes chapter is very good; I love the breadth and helpful caveats. Chapter 9, Structures and Enumerations, is fantastic-gives readers a sense of how the different data types work and when each is appropriate; a thorough description of some of Swift's most awesome features. The Inheritance, Polymorphism and Protocols chapter includes the only explanation of polymorphism I've ever read in a textbook that makes sense; great use of case studies to solidify new concepts. I liked the discussion of how the Swift standard library uses generics and that the reader has been using them throughout this book. I appreciated the operator overloading examples using both custom types and Swift/Foundation ones-a really great chapter covering a super-cool feature of Swift whilst urging the appropriate level of caution."

-Ash Furrow, iOS Developer, Artsy



"A quick and enjoyable introduction to the Swift programming language. Covers Swift's strong typing, integration with Objective-C, use of the number and string primitives as well as the array and dictionary collections. I liked the way that mutability and immutability were explained, and where optionals were returned from subscripted access; the playgrounds were easy to experiment in. It was good that you created the array [Payable]-showing that protocols are also types. Good generics examples, particularly the safer Stack."

-Abizer Nasir, Freelance iOS and OS X Developer, Jungle Candy Software Ltd.



"The syntax shading really helps set the code apart. The introductory tour of Xcode was great. I liked the callouts for engineering tips and best programming practices. I thought the discussion about Hashing was particularly invaluable and informative. A good job of showing how to use structs and enums and their increased power compared to say Objective-C-I like that you returned to earlier examples and re-implemented them using structs to compare the different approaches. The Operator Overloading chapter felt like it was constantly teaching me something-it was thorough and all the tips felt appropriate."

-Robert McGovern, Independent Developer



"I'm happy with the pace, especially if I consider the target audience to be an existing Objective-C programmer. The Functions, Methods, enums and Tuples chapter is excellent. Loved the Arrays chapter-the book is worth it just for the performance tips alone; I really like the creating and initializing arrays example; sorting an Array with the method sorted and closures is a good example; the variadic parameters example is lovely. The Classes chapter is full of sound software engineering principles applied in a very understandable way to the new idioms exposed by Swift. Great enum examples. The Inheritance, Polymorphism and Protocols chapter is excellent. An excellent introduction to generics. Chapter 12 is a great intro to the more complicated aspects of String manipulation whilst showing some great, real-world operator overloading examples."

-Rik Watson, Technical Team Lead for HP Enterprise Services (Applications Services)