Book Image

Learning Swift Second Edition - Second Edition

By : Andrew J Wagner
Book Image

Learning Swift Second Edition - Second Edition

By: Andrew J Wagner

Overview of this book

Swift is Apple’s new programming language and the future of iOS and OS X app development. It is a high-performance language that feels like a modern scripting language. On the surface, Swift is easy to jump into, but it has complex underpinnings that are critical to becoming proficient at turning an idea into reality. This book is an approachable, step-by-step introduction into programming with Swift for everyone. It begins by giving you an overview of the key features through practical examples and progresses to more advanced topics that help differentiate the proficient developers from the mediocre ones. It covers important concepts such as Variables, Optionals, Closures, Generics, and Memory Management. Mixed in with those concepts, it also helps you learn the art of programming such as maintainability, useful design patterns, and resources to further your knowledge. This all culminates in writing a basic iOS app that will get you well on your way to turning your own app ideas into reality.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Learning Swift Second Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Chapter 2. Building Blocks – Variables, Collections, and Flow Control

One of the coolest things about programming is the way that concepts build on each other. If you've never programmed anything before, even the most basic app can seem very complex. The reality is that, if you analyze everything going on in an app down to the ones and zeros flowing through the processor, it is incredibly complex. However, every aspect of using a computer is an abstraction. When you use an app, the complexity of the programming is being abstracted away for you. Learning to program is just going one level deeper in making a computer work for you.

As you learn the basic concepts behind programming, they will become second nature and this will free your mind to grasp even more complex concepts. When you first learn to read, sounding out each word is challenging. However, eventually, you reach a level where you glance at a word and you know the meaning instantaneously. This frees you up to start looking for deeper...