Google may be considering Swift as a ‘first class’ language for Android (opens in new tab)

(thenextweb.com)

64 pointscnbuff4109y ago28 comments

28 comments

Seems phenomenally improbable. It would basically require a ground-up rewrite of the entire app layer of Java just so that lazy iOS developers can do an even more half assed job of porting their apps over.

mixedCase9y ago

I'd prefer Go, and it seems weird they would consider Swift first but hey, as long as the JVM dies and we get native code I'm a happy man.

koder20169y ago

Won't help performance, that's for sure. Anyway, the post doesn't mention Dart, so has no credibility whatsoever.

xori9y ago

I'm still surprised that Google hasn't been pushing Dart harder than it has.

wrg9y ago

Why not Rust or Go? The only reason they would pick Swift is because of existing uptake

ridiculous_fish9y ago

One possible reason is dynamic linking and ABI stability. Go and Rust like to statically link everything, which doesn't work so well with big GUI frameworks. ABI stability and resilience is on the roadmap for Swift 3.0: https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/blob/master/README....

seren9y ago

To entice IOS developers to port their app on Android more easily ?

wrg9y ago

This also. It seems purely like a calculated move to undermine iOS as much as possible, but it does make you wonder if it's the Right Thing to do. There are better languages out there that have had much more development take place. And it's not like Google have commit rights or control over Swift. It's sad how they haven't really learned from the Oracle case.

3 more replies

alphacome9y ago

I think so. why bother to learn some new language.

drivingmenuts9y ago

Won't that require that Google finds some way to get people to actually pay for apps comparable to the rate that IOS users pay for theirs?

1 more reply

andybak9y ago

I'm projecting but hopefully because Swift is in some ways 'higher level' than Rust or Go. From my brief examination Swift has slightly more the conciseness, readability, usability and flexibility of dynamic languages.

(I'd love to see native Android apps in Python (or Nim) but that's probably never going to happen. Failing that I could live with a language like Swift.)

convivialdingo9y ago

Rust is still being designed and Go doesn't have a mature optimizing compiler.

Swift has a lot of developer growth, cross-platform library possibilities, and a two optimization pass compiler (SIL and IL).

Someone9y ago

Swift doesn't have a mature compiler, either. It isn't old enough to have fought enough battles.

Also, I wouldn't say the rust language definition is less stable than Swift's, which is still very much in flux (with changes such as the removal of C-style for loops in the pipeline or just released)

Also, Swift doesn't do garbage collection. That may cause problems when trying to build a shared GUI famework.

2 more replies

TurboHaskal9y ago

Software is a popularity contest.

x5n19y ago

Is Swift actually a good language, what's good about it? From a general perspective. Been using Go, and love it. Many innovative changes to basically be a C for our century. What's Swift, what have its designers learned from the past to make a better language?

ridiculous_fish9y ago

Swift includes a lot of high-level features and modern best practices. Off the top of my head, nice stuff that Swift has that Go does not include generics, value-type collections, Optional instead of implicit nil, algebraic data types through enums, let bindings for immutable values, pattern matching, Unicode support at the grapheme cluster level, a REPL, tuples, try/catch error handling, and functional constructs like map/filter/flatMap.

kagia9y ago

This article should be taken with a good pinch of salt. It seems to be more speculation than anything else...

jaxondu9y ago

My first thought. Then looking at what Microsoft is doing by offering compelling tool for cross platform development, then there is a possibility that Google is working to offer its own Xamarin like solution. Can only dream it will be one single GUI API for developing apps for Android, iOS, Windows, WebAssembly and Linux desktops using Swift. If Google has this cross platform GUI API, then many are likely to abandon Cocoa API. Google probably sees API as platform and not language.

sunstone9y ago

Curly brackets. Yuck.

alphacome9y ago

can't wait that Google make this decision

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

28 comments

takno9y ago

mixedCase9y ago

I'd prefer Go, and it seems weird they would consider Swift first but hey, as long as the JVM dies and we get native code I'm a happy man.

koder20169y ago

Won't help performance, that's for sure. Anyway, the post doesn't mention Dart, so has no credibility whatsoever.

xori9y ago

I'm still surprised that Google hasn't been pushing Dart harder than it has.

wrg9y ago

Why not Rust or Go? The only reason they would pick Swift is because of existing uptake

ridiculous_fish9y ago

seren9y ago

To entice IOS developers to port their app on Android more easily ?

wrg9y ago

3 more replies

alphacome9y ago

I think so. why bother to learn some new language.

drivingmenuts9y ago

Won't that require that Google finds some way to get people to actually pay for apps comparable to the rate that IOS users pay for theirs?

1 more reply

andybak9y ago

(I'd love to see native Android apps in Python (or Nim) but that's probably never going to happen. Failing that I could live with a language like Swift.)

convivialdingo9y ago

Rust is still being designed and Go doesn't have a mature optimizing compiler.

Swift has a lot of developer growth, cross-platform library possibilities, and a two optimization pass compiler (SIL and IL).

Someone9y ago

Swift doesn't have a mature compiler, either. It isn't old enough to have fought enough battles.

Also, Swift doesn't do garbage collection. That may cause problems when trying to build a shared GUI famework.

2 more replies

TurboHaskal9y ago

Software is a popularity contest.

x5n19y ago

ridiculous_fish9y ago

kagia9y ago

This article should be taken with a good pinch of salt. It seems to be more speculation than anything else...

jaxondu9y ago

sunstone9y ago

Curly brackets. Yuck.

alphacome9y ago

can't wait that Google make this decision

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse