Over the last few weeks I’ve been asked the question a lot – how do I learn Swift? Should I learn it now?

Aspiring iOS developers should begin with Objective-C, Apple’s traditional language for iOS programming.  Now you might be asking, “why, Apple just released Swift!?!”  Well, Swift does indeed look deceptively simple – one might even compare it to JavaScript, and its syntax is very similar. However, Swift is built o the same framework as Objective-C, Cocoa Touch, and uses many o the design patterns taught in Objective-C programming.  If you have a strong grasp on Objectove-C, taking the jump to Swift will be a breeze, however, for those who have no experience in Objective-C, learning Apple’s older language will give you a strong handle on Swift.

Objective-C isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.  In fact, it’ll be around for a long time. There’s currently 1.2 Million iOS apps written in Objective-C on the app store and countless other Mac apps also written in Objective-C.  As such, it’s not leaving us.

Sadly, because of the Apple NDA (non-discosure agreement), developers can’t post video tutorials or screenshots of beta software for other iOS developers to learn swift.  We can, however, produce tutorials but have to be careful what he show off in those tutorials.  Because of the NDA, resources for Swift will be limited until Apple lifts it in the Fall.

So my suggestion to aspiring iOS developers: learn Objective-C and get a good handle on it. Then make the jump to swift – everything will make a lot more sense!   Happy learning!