Apple iPhone and iPad products have become the standard for mobile smartphones and tablets. Apple Watch is one of the best-selling smartwatches in the world. All of these Apple devices run on Apple's operating system, iOS.
If you want to create apps for iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you need to learn iOS application development. In this article, I'll take a look at the most popular iOS development programming languages and which language you should choose for your next iOS app.
The Best Programming Languages Used to Create an iOS Application
When planning to build a chat app for iOS, iPad OS, tvOS, macOS, and watchOS, I recommend 2 native programming languages for developers: Objective-C and Swift. Here is the rundown of details why you should go for these languages:
Objective-C
Objective-C is a sophisticated object-oriented programming language used on major Apple platforms with a code concept for frameworks and real-time objects. Below is a list of reasons why developers should try Objective-C for their chat apps.
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Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language used on the iOS platform to create applications with modular components and reusable code.
Adds automatic garbage collection, an object memory management system under development. The garbage collector inside your program identifies objects that other objects refer to and destroys unused garbage.
This language uses your C program syntax and Small-talk's object-oriented messaging application features, allowing you to create expressive chat features. These syntaxes seem to be easy to understand just like in natural language.
Swift
Swift is a compact and easy-to-use open-source programming language that is evolving as the first choice for developers to build a chat app on iOS platforms.
There are several reasons why you should consider Swift to build your iOS chat app:
Swift is a general-purpose programming language that is flexible with iOS frameworks like Cocoa and Cocoa Touch.
The codes are simpler and faster than any other programming language. It includes features such as inference, closures, memory management, stack overflow prevention, and generics.
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Swift is a statically typed language, which makes it reliable for generating an error-free chat application at runtime. It also has native error handling functionality, where the compiler identifies code ambiguities instantly.
It contains built-in memory management techniques that are easy to implement and require less maintenance. This makes building chat applications with large volumes of storage capacity more optimal.
C#
The predecessor of Swift, this application programming language was created as an extension of the object-oriented programming language C, with similar properties. Developed in 1984, it is now a general-purpose programming language that is still supported by Mac OS and iOS and was the primary coding language for iOS before Swift came along.
There has always been a comparison between Objective C and Swift in terms of readability, coding, execution time, code maintainability, etc.
However, it has several drawbacks that make it a bit outdated as an iOS development language in 2021.
Its lack of availability as an open-source language makes it difficult to learn. Additionally, security issues, limited functionality, and a lack of updates also weigh on its popularity.
On the other hand, it is often seen as a stable and mature language.
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Flutter
Flutter allows developers to create aesthetically appealing and intuitive cross-platform apps, which is why Android and iOS developers consider it. But of course, this also comes with its set of pros and cons. Some of these are that it is very cost-effective and time efficient, provides full customizability, has its own widgets, and is available as an open-source language; at the same time, it still has a limited and young talent pool.
Advantages:
The single code base for all platforms
Allows you to quickly build an aesthetically pleasing user interface
customizable widgets
Fast development and testing process.
No need for intermediate bridges
Javascript
Web technologies can be used to create web applications. These are the combination of HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript, each with a specific purpose:
HTML is used to block the interface elements of the application.
CSS is used to define the visual presentation of the elements defined in the HTML.
JavaScript is used to add dynamism to HTML elements, making them responsive and/or animated, as well as to program all of the application logic.
Programming for iOS with web technologies will require you to wrap the resulting code in a container that can then be used to publish and run the app on the platform. A popular solution for this is the Apache Cordova project.
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What to consider before creating an application for iOS?
1. Know your target market
Before creating your iOS app, it is essential to have details of the people you are targeting to use the app. Having details of your target audience and how they typically use their devices will give you an idea of how to design your app and which features are most important to these people.
Knowing your target audience will also make it easier for you to run advertising campaigns for the app because you know exactly who you are communicating with. So start by doing market research to determine your target users based on gender, age, location, and any other relevant criteria.
2. Know the problem you are solving
As you plan to build your iOS app, you should have a clear idea of the problem you are trying to solve. This should always be the first step because if your app isn't solving any problems in the marketplace, no one will use it. This will also help you determine if you have competitors.
3. The scope of your application
After defining the purpose of the application, you now need to determine the different capabilities that your application will have. For example, if you're building a fitness app, you need to determine the exercises to include in the app. You can always expand the scope of the app in the future, but initially, it's best to lay a solid foundation in terms of what you'll cover at first.
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4. Which devices to support
Apple has been making iPhones since 2007, so you need to decide which of these iPhones will be compatible with your app. Your app's functionality will help you determine the iOS devices with the database needed to run your app. Knowing the devices capable of running your app will help you determine which versions of iOS to build your app for, and also which languages you can use to write the app itself.
5. Evaluate your ability to build the app
Building an app is not an easy task and it will require several people with different development skills. So before you start writing your first line of code, it's crucial to assess whether you have the talent to create the type of application you want.
Conclusion
Programming for iOS will always be in style. For this, several languages and several environments are used. Take your time in choosing the best programming language for iPhone apps. They may be completely based on C, so knowing this will make it easier to master and implement other languages.
While Objective-C is a veteran with a long history, gradually fading into the background, Swift is the best ios app development language of modernity. It is quickly gaining popularity among iOS app developers. Both languages for creating iOS applications belong to object-oriented programming and successfully implement its main paradigms: inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction.
There are also other languages to choose from and try for specific tasks. If you are in doubt, make sure to choose the best language to develop iOS apps with the help of an industry expert like us. Feel free to provide your questions.
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