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Apple Swift VS Kotlin

Compare Apple Swift VS Kotlin and see what are their differences

Apple Swift logo Apple Swift

Swift is a programming language for iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS apps that builds on the best of C...

Kotlin logo Kotlin

Statically typed Programming Language targeting JVM and JavaScript
  • Apple Swift Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23
  • Kotlin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-09

We recommend LibHunt Kotlin for discovery and comparisons of trending Kotlin projects.

Apple Swift features and specs

  • Performance
    Swift is designed to be fast and efficient, often outperforming older languages such as Objective-C. This is due to its modern architecture and LLVM compiler, which optimizes code during the compile time.
  • Safety
    Swift provides safety features like optional types and automatic memory management, which help developers avoid common programming errors. This reduces the risk of runtime crashes and enhances code stability.
  • Syntax
    Swift has a clean and expressive syntax, making it easy to read and write. This simplicity reduces the learning curve for new developers and improves code maintainability.
  • Interoperability with Objective-C
    Swift is designed to easily coexist with Objective-C. Developers can integrate Swift code into existing Objective-C projects seamlessly, facilitating gradual transitions to modern Swift codebases.
  • Active Community and Support
    Swift benefits from Apple's strong backing and a growing community of developers. This provides extensive resources, community support, and continuous updates to improve the language.

Possible disadvantages of Apple Swift

  • ABI Stability
    Swift's ABI (Application Binary Interface) was only stabilized in Swift 5, which means applications built with prior versions are not binary compatible. This could lead to challenges in maintaining older projects.
  • Limited Language Maturity
    Although Swift has grown rapidly since its release, it's still a relatively young language compared to Objective-C or C++. This immaturity can result in fewer third-party libraries and tools being available.
  • Ecosystem
    Despite recent advancements, Swift lags behind some established languages regarding package management and deployment tools, which can hinder the development experience.
  • Learning Curve for Objective-C Developers
    For developers accustomed to Objective-C, switching to Swift requires learning new paradigms and idioms, which might temporarily slow down productivity.
  • iOS-Centric
    While efforts are being made to use Swift for server-side development and other platforms, its primary adoption and optimization remain focused on Apple's ecosystem, limiting cross-platform capabilities.

Kotlin features and specs

  • Interoperability
    Kotlin is fully interoperable with Java, which means developers can use both languages within the same project and have seamless communications between them.
  • Conciseness
    Kotlin reduces boilerplate code, making the codebase easier to read and maintain. It offers concise syntax and reduces the amount of code.
  • Null Safety
    Kotlin's type system is designed to eliminate null pointer exceptions by making all types non-nullable by default, thus enhancing reliability and reducing runtime crashes.
  • Coroutines
    Kotlin provides built-in support for coroutines, which makes writing asynchronous code more straightforward and readable compared to traditional approaches.
  • Modern Language Features
    Kotlin includes advanced features such as lambda expressions, extension functions, higher-order functions, and more, improving productivity and providing more expressive code constructs.
  • Full Tooling Support
    Kotlin is supported by major IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio, Eclipse, and others, with full tooling support including debugging, refactoring, and linting.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    Kotlin has a growing and vibrant community with extensive resources, libraries, and frameworks that support a wide range of programming needs.

Possible disadvantages of Kotlin

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its modern features, Kotlin has a learning curve, especially for developers who are more familiar with Java or other programming languages.
  • Compilation Speed
    Kotlin's compilation speed is often slower compared to Java, which can impact the development workflow, especially in larger projects.
  • Runtime Performance
    While Kotlin performs comparably to Java in many cases, there can be minor performance hits in certain scenarios due to additional language features.
  • Fewer Resources Compared to Java
    Although growing, Kotlin's ecosystem of libraries and frameworks is still smaller compared to Java's well-established and extensive ecosystem.
  • Tooling Maturity
    While support in major IDEs is robust, some third-party tools and plugins may not fully support Kotlin, leading to potential integration issues.
  • Android Specific Challenges
    In the context of Android development, some legacy libraries and tools might not be fully compatible with Kotlin, necessitating additional workarounds.
  • Job Market
    While demand for Kotlin developers is growing, Java still dominates the job market, which may limit opportunities for Kotlin-focused roles in certain regions.

Apple Swift videos

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Kotlin videos

10 reasons to try Kotlin for Android development

More videos:

  • Review - What can Kotlin do for me? (GDD Europe '17)
  • Review - Java or Kotlin for Android Development – Which One Is Better?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apple Swift and Kotlin)
Programming Language
10 10%
90% 90
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
11 11%
89% 89
Generic Programming Language

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apple Swift and Kotlin

Apple Swift Reviews

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Kotlin Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Cross-platform development with variants targeting JVM (Kotlin/JVM), JavaScript (Kotlin/JS), and native code (Kotlin/Native).
Source: aircada.com
Top 10 Rust Alternatives
The last computer programming language to stand out as an exceptional alternative to Rust is named Kotlin. It is typed statically and was manufactured for Java machines.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Kotlin should be more popular than Apple Swift. It has been mentiond 81 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apple Swift mentions (23)

  • macOS Sequoia is certified to Unix 03
    - And the Swift Language - https://swift.org. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Learning Swift: The Basics of iOS Development
    Open Source: Swift is open source, meaning it's free to use and has a growing community. You can find the source code, as well as many resources and discussions on Swift.org. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Differentiable Swift
    So is differentiable Swift a package for Swift or is it part of the Swift standard library? The video says go to swift.org but I can't find any info about differentiable Swift on that site. Source: over 1 year ago
  • How far can you get with Swift and iOS development on Linux?
    You can learn the Swift language, but not iOS development. So after you're done with basics from swift.org, you need to switch to macOS. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Is there a web site I can go to if I want to find the SwiftUI roadmap?
    Like someone mentioned swift.org is a start. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Kotlin mentions (81)

  • Doodle Weather Clone
    Doodle helps you create beautiful, modern apps entirely in Kotlin. Its render model is intuitive yet powerful, making it easy to achieve complex UIs with pixel level precision and layouts. This simplicity and power applies to everything from user input to drag and drop. Doodle lets you build and animate anything. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Kotlin vs. Java: A Grand Finale and Farewell (But Not Goodbye!)
    Kotlin Official Website: Your one-stop shop for all things Kotlin, with comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and resources: https://kotlinlang.org/. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Day 0 of #100daysofMiva || Setting up for success
    Next, I selected the technologies and frameworks I want to focus on during this challenge. For frontend development, I'll be exploring Reactjs, Vue.js, Bootstrap, Next.js, and MUI. For backend development, I'll be diving into Express, Django, Node.js, PHP, and Firebase. Additionally, I'll be learning Kotlin, React Native, and Flutter for mobile development, and APIs, PostgreSQL, Cloud, and MongoDB for full stack... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Better Animations... in Latest Doodle
    Doodle helps you create beautiful, modern apps entirely in Kotlin. Its render model is intuitive yet powerful, making it easy to achieve complex UIs with pixel level precision and layouts. This simplicity and power applies to everything from user input to drag and drop. Doodle lets you build and animate anything. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • The Top Programming Languages to Learn in 2024
    Kotlin, fully interoperable with Java, is increasingly used for Android app development. It offers a more concise syntax and improved safety features compared to Java, making it a modern language for mobile development. Discover more about Kotlin here. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apple Swift and Kotlin, you can also consider the following products

Elixir - Dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Git - Git is a free and open source version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. It is easy to learn and lightweight with lighting fast performance that outclasses competitors.

Dart - A new web programming language with libraries, a virtual machine, and tools