Swift Diary #13: The Addiction

I’m at the point with Swift where I get on a roll sometimes. That’s when it gets fun.

* * *

I know the saying that programming isn’t typing — it’s thinking, and with autocompletion these days it really doesn’t matter how much typing a language requires.

Except that that’s not entirely true. Programming is also typing.

Or, put another way: a whole bunch of programming is housekeeping. And, for the most part, Objective-C requires a lot more housekeeping than Swift does. You end up with longer lines, twice the amount of files to maintain, imports to manage, types to type, and so on.

With Swift you get more logic per page with less effort.

* * *

I’m doing my best to understand exactly what sculptures come from this new type of rock. I design like an Objective-C programmer, but I’m learning how to design like a Swift programmer.

I do still wish for things — especially, 1) the ability to treat objects that conform to the same protocol as the same type, and 2) something like KVC.

* * *

But here’s what happens now. Sometimes I go to write some Objective-C code and I sigh at the effort — because I know the Swift version is half as long. I sigh at jumping to the top of the file and adding an import, and I sigh at switching to the .h file and adding a method.

Part of me still wishes that Swift had been something like a cross between Objective-C and Ruby. I wanted a concise, expressive, and dynamic scripting language where I could be massively productive. Instead I got a concise and expressive programming language that’s less dynamic than I’d like — but where I could still be substantially more productive (once I learn it) than in Objective-C.

And that’s where I am now — starting to feel that boost in productivity with Swift, and getting a little bit addicted to it.