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Swift Around the Web
Changes to the Swift Standard Library in 1.1 beta 3
While the XCode GM 1.1 seed is officially out, this is an incredible summary and analysis of the recent changes to Swift from Swift 1.1 beta 3, including notes on Swift code best practices based on these changes from Apple. Another thing to note is that the Apple team is working hard on creating much friendlier documentation. "The biggest deal in this latest beta is the documentation. There are 2,745 new lines of /// comments in beta 3, and even pre-existing documentation for most items has been revised."
Swift Alternative to Objective-C Macros
Hint: the answer is much simpler (and safer) than you think!
Swift Learning Resources
A great list of Swift blog posts, code, and videos - heavily focused on algorithms, including Big O notation, Sorting, Linked Lists, Binary Search Trees, Stacks & Queues, Graph Algorithms, and more!
Designated Initializers and Convenience Initializers in Swift
@CodingExplorer demoes how convenience initializers work in Swift. I personally haven't found as many use cases for convenience initializers in my own code yet - instead, I prefer to use default parameter values. But it's definitely a feature of Swift to keep in mind and understand!
Code
UIAlertController
I have to google how to do alert views and action sheets in iOS8 every time! Still not used to it, but loving the fine-grained control and power.
Simple, interactive notifications in iOS 8
Love this simple code for writing actionable notifications in iOS 8. Again, this is really not a lot of code to do something so powerful.
Adaptive user interfaces
@jesse_squires walks through iOS 8 size classes and trait collections. With multiple device sizes in consumer's hands, this is a topic that will keep coming up again and again.
Apple News
Xcode 6.1 GM seed for OS X Yosemite
Xcode 6.1 GM seed for OS X Yosemite is out!! View the release notes here.
Building assert() in Swift, Part 2: __FILE__ and __LINE__
This was a very timely post for me, as I've been working on writing my feature tests in Swift with KIF. One of the ways to get KIF working in Swift is by writing a tester function that actually uses FILE and LINE. Thanks @bradheintz for pointing this out!
Design
How to design for thumbs in the Era of Huge Screens
This is an incredibly detailed analysis of how we use our thumbs to navigate our iPhone, and what the new screen sizes mean for design-purposes. One big take away is this: "prototyping will become even more important. So if you haven’t jumped on that train, now’s the time".
Random Cool Stuff
Maximizing the Preview Assistant Editor in Xcode 6
Super useful feature to see your screen in multiple sizes without having to run it in every single simulator.
In Case You Missed It
iOS: Working with Segues in Swift
I'm still figuring out the right patterns to use in Swift. I like grouping things together... like segues identifiers! See the comment in this post by @orta. I haven't had a chance to look into his solution just yet, but it sounds incredible.
XCode 6: How To Add Image Assets To Your Playground
I always forget how to do this, so I wrote it down! Here is an example playground I used to demo this at a talk recently.
XCode 6: How To Debug The View Hierarchy In Your Storyboard
This is another feature of XCode that is fun to play with. Have fun rotating your view and seeing your AutoLayout constraints!
Learning.... Swift functions!
These are slides from my talk at last night's New York iOS Developer Meetup. It's a mix of talking about power learning and some advanced topics I've learned recently about Swift functions.
Tutorials
iOS 8 Visual Effects Tutorial
I still can't get over how easy it is to add a very nice blur view to your app in iOS 8. Just a few lines of code, and it looks incredible!
Podcasts
Ben Scheirman on Networking and Data
Ben Scheirman of NSScreencast shares tips for writing better, and more efficient, networking code for your apps. I love the story @justin shares of how Facebook sent a few of their developers to Africa so they can really get the feel for what it's like to use the app in a place without a constant internet connection. As a developer, I definitely do not get out in the real world enough to really stress-test my apps!
Swift Code
Swift Thoughts
Yesterday, I spoke about Swift at the New York iOS Developer Meetup, and my favorite question afterwards was when somebody asked what it is about Swift that makes us feel so warm and fuzzy :)
I definitely feel warm and fuzzy when using Swift. I just love programming in it! I think the key is really the same magic ingredient that makes us feel warm and fuzzy about any other product we feel warm and fuzzy about - LOVE!
By love, I mean that somebody cared a lot and took the time to think about and obsess over all the details. As the consumers, we don't notice every single detail - only the Swift team knows how many days they spend discussing using the func keyword for functions, for example, but the overall product just feels right.
Obviously, Swift is still a young language and it's not perfect, and there will be a lot of changes to it, but it's a really big deal that when it was first released, it made us feel warm and fuzzy instead of scared that we had to throw away potentially years of Objective-C experience and move to something new and unknown.