dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • Technology

Swift Programming Language Is Now Top Tier

  • March 27, 2018
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Apple’s programming language Swift is less than four years old, but a new report finds that it’s already as popular as its predecessor, Apple’s more established Objective-C language.

Swift is now tied with Objective-C at number 10 in the rankings conducted by analyst firm RedMonk. It’s hardly a surprise that programmers are interested in Apple’s language, which can be used to build applications for the iPhone, Apple Watch, Macintosh computers, and even web applications. But the speed at which it jumped in the ranks is astonishing. Swift is the fastest growing language RedMonk has seen since it started compiling these rankings in 2011. Even Go, a programming language that Google released in 2009, hasn’t been able to break into the top 10.

The second fastest grower is Kotlin, which Google now officially supports on Android. It leaped from number 46 in the third quarter of 2017 to number 27 in January.

RedMonk’s rankings don’t necessarily reflect whether companies are using these languages for real-world projects, or how many jobs are available for developers who know them. Instead, the firm tries to gauge how interested programmers are in these languages. Popularity among programmers could influence business decisions such as what languages to use for new projects.

RedMonk compiles its rankings by looking at the number of questions people ask about each language on the question and answer site Stack Overflow as well as the number of projects using particular languages on the code hosting and collaboration site GitHub. The methodology was originally created by data scientists Drew Conway and John Myles White in 2010.

Apple first released Swift in 2014. The idea was not just to make it easier for new developers to learn to program, but to simplify life for experienced coders as well. Many languages over the years have aimed to smooth the programming process by offering syntax that’s easier to read or building in features that programmers otherwise commonly write from scratch. But these sorts of languages often produced applications that ran more slowly than ones written in more difficult programming languages. Swift aimed to combine programmer-friendly features with performance.

Kotlin, which was created by the company JetBrains and officially released in 2016, has similar goals. What sets Kotlin apart is that it’s compatible with the widely used Java programming language, which means programmers can include Java code in their Kotlin programs, or even write new features for Java applications using Kotlin. Kotlin had already received widespread attention from Java developers, but once Google announced full support for the language on Android, interest skyrocketed. RedMonk analyst Stephen O’Grady pointed out in the report that Kotlin’s Java roots could help it find its way into more places than Swift, such as large enterprise applications.

Apart from the big gains for Swift and Kotlin, the RedMonk rankings changed fairly little this quarter. JavaScript and Java remained the two most popular languages, closely followed by Python, PHP, and C#. As O’Grady notes in the report, it’s becoming harder and harder for new languages to break into the top 20. That makes the rise of Swift and Kotlin all the more impressive.

 

This feature is written by Klint Finley and originally appeared in Wired.

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • Apple
  • Swift
majulah

Previous Article
  • Cities
  • Lah!

Singapore Ranked Best Smart City For 2017

  • March 16, 2018
View Post
Next Article
  • Lah!

Why Can’t You Divide By Zero?

  • April 9, 2018
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Technology

Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan

  • Dean Marc
  • July 24, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu

  • dotlah.com
  • July 17, 2025
View Post
  • Gears
  • Technology

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones

  • Dean Marc
  • July 9, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore

  • dotlah.com
  • June 20, 2025
View Post
  • Technology

Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn

  • Dean Marc
  • June 12, 2025
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
  • Technology

Apple supercharges its tools and technologies for developers to foster creativity, innovation, and design

  • Dean Marc
  • June 11, 2025
View Post
  • Technology
  • Working Life

It’s time to stop debating whether AI is genuinely intelligent and focus on making it work for society

  • dotlah.com
  • June 8, 2025
oracle-ibm
View Post
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Technology

IBM and Oracle Expand Partnership to Advance Agentic AI and Hybrid Cloud

  • Dean Marc
  • May 6, 2025


Trending
  • 1
    • Lah!
    NEA To Extend Energy Efficiency Requirements To Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Air-Conditioners
    • April 1, 2020
  • 2
    • Lah!
    NTU Singapore Scientists Develop Probes To Detect Acute Kidney Failure Early
    • July 19, 2019
  • 3
    • People
    What Is The Role Of Immigrants In The US COVID-19 Response?
    • July 9, 2020
  • Atomic energy 4
    • Featured
    • Science
    • Technology
    Nuclear Energy. Super Big Energy Hiding In Super Small Spaces.
    • July 6, 2023
  • 5
    • Engineering
    • People
    • Technology
    Three MIT Alumni Graduate From NASA Astronaut Training
    • March 8, 2024
  • 6
    • People
    Who Came To America, And When?
    • June 15, 2020
  • Building, Institution and People 7
    • Features
    • People
    Hierarchy and Beyond – Organisational Structures for Any Institution
    • June 28, 2023
  • 8
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    Filling A TAL Order By Advancing Local Innovative Tech
    • November 13, 2021
  • group-of-people-social-media-pexels-cottonbro-8088495 9
    • Features
    • People
    The Role Of Neuroticism In Social Media Addiction
    • April 9, 2022
  • On AI Device Is Your AI 10
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Technology
    Qualcomm Brings Industry-Leading AI Innovations and Broad Collaborations to CES 2025 Across PC, Automotive, Smart Home and Enterprises
    • January 7, 2025
  • bulb-pexels-eric-anada-1495580 11
    • Cities
    How to Compare Electricity Providers in New South Wales
    • October 5, 2021
  • 12
    • Science
    • Technology
    Everest Medicines To Develop, Commercialize EDDC’s Small Molecules As Potential COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatments
    • January 24, 2022
Trending
  • 1
    New Trump tariffs: early modelling shows most economies lose – the US more than many
    • August 6, 2025
  • Scuba Diving 2
    Wetsuit or Drysuit? As always, it depends. This quick guide can help you choose.
    • August 2, 2025
  • 3
    Thoughts on America’s AI Action Plan
    • July 24, 2025
  • 4
    Introducing Surface Laptop 5G: Seamless connectivity, built for business
    • July 23, 2025
  • 5
    Press Start (Or Hit Enter)! Your Go-To Loadout for Streamers and Gamers.
    • July 19, 2025
  • 6
    ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu
    • July 17, 2025
  • 7
    Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
    • July 9, 2025
  • Camping 8
    The Summer Adventures : Camping Essentials
    • June 28, 2025
  • 9
    Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore
    • June 20, 2025
  • 10
    A Father’s Day Gift for Every Pop and Papa
    • June 14, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.