Apple has recently released the latest version of Swift, referred to as Swift 5.0, with a lot of changes and better features to make the iOS App Development easier and quicker for swift developers.

Swift Programming Language was originally launched by Apple in 2014 and was later open-sourced at the end of 2015. Swift has also crossed Objective-C in terms of top tech on stack overflow. Moreover, it has remained in the list of top 10 programming languages after the release of version 4.2 in September 2018.

In this blog, we will talk about some of the leading updates and new features that occurred in Swift 5 that can be useful in the development process.

Without further ado, let’s get started:

9 essential features of Swift 5 to Consider While developing iOS app

1. ABI Stability

One of the leading features in Swift 5.0 is ABI Stability. ABI is referred to as the Application Binary Interface. It helps to achieve binary compatibility between apps and libraries compiled using different Swift versions.

Until now, every iOS application releases its own Swift version. The main reason is that Swift isn’t available as a specific part of iOS itself.

Starting from Swift 5, ABI Stability will enable upcoming swift versions to be binary compatible with Swift 5. Therefore, one doesn’t need to ship Swift with its own applications anymore. This ultimately helps to reduce Swift versions.

2. Integer Multiplies with "isMultiple(of:)"

There are a wide number of use cases available in practical programming. Out of which, one of the most basic is to check whether a number is divisible by another number. To achieve this, one needs to check whether a number is even or odd, the standard approach is to go with remainder operator %.

    
    	let myNumber = 12
		if myNumber % 2 == 0 {
    		print("number is multiple of 2")
          }
    

Swift 5 consists of a new function isMultiple(of:) which allows checking whether a given number is a multiple of another number. For example:

    
    	10.isMultiple(of: 2)
		20.isMultiple(of: 4)
    

3. Raw Strings Literals

Escaping backslashes and quotes is usually bothersome for developers. Using the Raw String Literals, padding the strings with #(hash or pound) keeps the quotes as they are and adds a slash with another.

For example:

    
    	let regularString = "\\Hello \\World"
        let rawString = #"\Hello \World"#
        
        let rawQuote = ###"strive for "greatness"###
    

Output of above code snippet:

    
    	"\\Hello \\World"
        "\\Hello \\World"
        
        "strive for "greatness"
    

From the above code, it's clear that you don't need to escape the quotes.

To make sure that escaping works with the above code syntax, you have to pad the backslash with a # as \#(). To achieve this, update the syntax of the above code as below:

    
    	let name = "Awesome"
        let greeting1 = #"Hello, \#(world)!"#
        let greeting2 = #"Hello, \(world)!"#
    

Output of code snippet is as follows:

    
    	Hello, Awesome!
		Hello, \(world)!
    

4. Result Type

Result Type is one of the most essential features useful in iPhone App Development. It works easily with two states of the passed result: success and failure before using the real value.

Result type encapsulates feasible return values and error in one object. It utilizes enumerations and allows you to write better code.

    
    	enum Result {
               case value(Wrapped)
               case error(Failure)
        }
        
        let result = Result { try String(contentsOfFile: "hello world") }
        
        switch result {
        case .success(let string):
            print(string)
        case .failure(_):
        print("failure")
        }
    

The above code snippet prints failure.

5. Filter And Count With "count(where:)

You must have been using functions such as map(_:), reduce(_:), and filter(_:). The main issue with these functions is that they make code more lengthy and lavish.

In order to count something, you have to first use count and then filter. But, with the latest’ count(where:)’ function, you can filter as well as count using one function call only.

    
    	For Example:

        let scores = [11, 10, 1, 9, 6, 8, 0, 4]
        let count = scores.count(where: { $0 > 6 })
        print(count)
        Output = 4
    

6. Run your iPad app on Mac

Now, it is very easy to develop a native Mac app from your current iPad app. Using Mac Catalyst, your apps have the ability to share the same project and source code; hence, you can easily convert your iPad app's desktop-class features and integrate more for your Mac.

7. Latest "compactMapValues()" Function for Dictionaries

Standard Swift library includes two main functions for arrays as well as dictionaries.

map(_:): It runs a function on array items and responds with the leading array.

compactMap(_:): It doesn’t consider the array items that are nil.

On the contrary, the MapValues() function applies the same logic for dictionaries but doesn’t drop the nil array items.

To resolve this, Swift 5 releases compactMapValues(_:) function for dictionaries. This merges the compactMap(_:) function of arrays with the mapValues(_:) function of dictionaries for useful mapping and filtering values.

8. Standard Library Updates

Standard Library in Swift 5 consists of a lot of essential things which allow programmers to handle their libraries with ease. Here are some of the most relevant updates:

• Improved Siri for developers. Using shortcuts and Sirikit, your app will allow users to complete their tasks with only their voice. iOS 13 makes things even better due to the latest conversational shortcuts, enhanced customization, and latest media playback experiences.
• String is being renewed with UTF-8 encoding for better execution.
• Increased flexibility to build text from data by improving string interpolation.
• Core ML3 allows you to create a create realtime, personalized experiences with industry-leading, on-device machine learning.

9. Migrating to Swift 5

Lastly, if you are amazed by the Swift 5 features and looking forward to migration, then this is the best time. You have to keep in mind only one thing that you can migrate your code from Swift 4 and later versions to Swift 5.

But, if your app is made in versions before Swift 4, then you have to first convert it into Swift 4, then only they are eligible for migration to Swift 5.

Also, you will require minimum Apple Xcode 10.2’s code migrator and all the things will be handled automatically by the code migrator itself. To understand in detail, you can refer to the migration guide available on Apple’s website.

Wrapping it Up

Swift 5 includes a simple & expressive syntax and merges enhance type interface and pattern matching. It helps to improve readability and reduce the development life cycles; hence, it is the best choice for developing any type of iOS App on any device.

So, these are some of the essential features of Swift 5, which an iPhone app development company should keep in mind before developing an iOS App.