Book Image

Swift Essentials

By : Alex Blewitt, Bandlem Limited
Book Image

Swift Essentials

By: Alex Blewitt, Bandlem Limited

Overview of this book

Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Swift Essentials
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Understanding iOS applications


An iOS application is a compiled executable, along with a set of supporting files in a bundle. The application bundle is packaged into an archive file for installing onto a device or uploading to the App Store.

Tip

Xcode can be used to run iOS applications in a simulator, but running an application on a device requires a developer signing key, which is included as part of the iOS developer program at https://developer.apple.com.

Most iOS applications to date have been written in Objective-C, a crossover between C and Smalltalk. With the advent of Swift, it is likely that many developers will move at least parts of their applications to Swift for performance and maintenance reasons. Although Objective-C is likely to be around for a while, it is clear that Swift is the future of iOS development, and probably OS X as well.

Applications contain a number of different types of files, which are used both at compile time and also at runtime. These files include:

  • The Info...