Learning Swift Programming 1st Edition

Get started fast with Swift programming for iOS and OS X

Learning Swift Programming is a fast-paced, hands-on introduction to writing production-quality iOS and OS X apps with Apple’s new programming language. Written for developers with previous experience in any other modern language, this book explains Swift simply and clearly, using relevant examples that solve realistic problems.

Author Jacob Schatz’s popular Skip Wilson video tutorials on YouTube have already helped thousands of Apple developers get started with Swift. Now, he helps you take full advantage of Swift’s advanced design, remarkable performance, and streamlined development techniques.

Step-by-step, you’ll move from basic syntax through advanced features such as closures and generics–discovering helpful tips and tricks along the way. After you’ve mastered Swift’s building blocks and learned about its key innovations, a full section of case studies walks you through building complete apps from scratch.

• Compare Swift with Objective-C, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and C
• Collect data with arrays and dictionaries, and store it with variables and constants
• Group commonly-used code into functions for easy reuse
• Structure your code with enums, structs, and classes
• Use generics to get more done with less code
• Write closures to share small blocks of functionality
• Use optionals to write more robust, crash-resistant, and cleaner code
• Integrate existing Objective-C code into new Swift apps
• Program on the bit and byte level with advanced operators
• Implement efficient design patterns with protocols and delegates
• Create animated 2D games with SpriteKit, and 3D games with SceneKit

Contents at a Glance

1 Getting Your Feet Wet

    Building Blocks of Swift

    Optionals: A Gift to Unwrap

    Tuples

    Number Types and Converting Between Them

    Coming to Swift from Objective-C and C

2 Collecting Data

    Using Arrays

    Modifying Arrays

    Using Dictionaries

3 Making Things Happen: Functions

    Defining Functions

    More on Parameters

4 Structuring Code: Enums, Structs, and Classes

    Enums

    Structs

5 Making a Game

    Building a User Interface (UI)

    The Action-Packed View Controller

6 Reusable Code: Closures

    What Are Closures?

    Closures in Other Languages

    How Closures Work and Why They’re Awesome

7 Subscripts and Advanced Operators

    Writing Your First Subscript

    Bits and Bytes with Advanced Operators

    Customizing Operators

    Making Your Own Operators

    Bits and Bytes in Real Life

8 Protocols

    Writing Your First Protocol

    Animizable and Humanizable

    Delegation

    Protocols as Types

    Protocols in Collections

    Optional Chaining

9 Becoming Flexible with Generics

    The Problem That Generics Solve

10 Games with SpriteKit

     Setting Up the Project

     The Start Screen

     Dangerous Ground

     A Hero to the Rescue

     Enemies in Motion

     Spawned Obstacles

     Smashing Physics

11 Games with SceneKit

     Creating DAE Files

     Creating a New SceneKit Project

     Your SceneKit Files

     Making the Game

     Bridging the Gap to Objective-C

12 Apps with UIKit

     Application Types

     Loading a Table View

     Loading Data from a URL

Learning Swift Programming is a fast-paced, hands-on introduction to developing iOS and OS X apps with Apple's hot new programming language. This book is designed to provide an experienced programmer with a complete understanding of the Swift language and how to leverage it to build professional, well-designed iOS and OS X apps. Author Jacob Schatz – creator of immensely popular Swift programming video tutorials on YouTube – explains Swift in simple, understandable terms. Schatz explains Swift with pertinent examples that make the material exciting and that show the user how to solve common problems.

Jacob Schatz is a senior software engineer with more than eight years of experience writing code for the masses. His popular Skip Wilson YouTube channel has helped thousands of people around the world learn programming languages like Swift and Python. Though lately he has been deep into Swift, he also writes volumes of code in JavaScript, Python, Objective-C, and other languages. Jacob is always selectively consuming the latest programming trends. He has a passion for making a difference and is constantly solving problems. He is, at heart, an educator, and enjoys teaching and finding new ways to explain advanced concepts.

    Introduction 1

1 Getting Your Feet Wet 5

    Building Blocks of Swift 5

        Using Comments 6

        Inference Everywhere! 6

    Optionals: A Gift to Unwrap 8

        Printing Your Results 11

        Implicitly Unwrapped Optionals 11

    Tuples 11

    Number Types and Converting Between Them 12

    Coming to Swift from Objective-C and C 14

        Control Flow: Making Choices 14

        Switching It Up: switch Statements 21

        Stop...Hammer Time 23

    Summary 25

2 Collecting Data 27

    Using Arrays 27

        Your First Array 27

        A Quicker Array 28

        Using AnyObject 29

        What’s an Array Made Of? 29

        Differences Between NSArrays and Swift Arrays 30

    Modifying Arrays 30

        Accessing Array Elements 30

        Adding Elements to an Array 31

        Removing Elements from Arrays 31

        Iterating Over Arrays 32

        Extra Bits of Arrays 32

        Emptying an Array 33

    Using Dictionaries 33

        Adding, Removing, and Inserting with Dictionaries 34

        Iterating Over Dictionaries 34

        Extra Bits of Dictionaries 35

        Emptying a Dictionary 35

        Testing Dictionaries for the Presence of Values 35

        Putting It All Together 36

    Summary 38

3 Making Things Happen: Functions 39

    Defining Functions 40

        Return Types 41

        Multiple Return Values 42

    More on Parameters 43

        External Parameter Names 43

        Default Parameter Values 44

        Variadic Parameters 45

        In-Out Parameters 46

        Functions as Types 47

        Putting It All Together 48

    Summary 52

4 Structuring Code: Enums, Structs, and Classes 53

    Enums 54

        Which Member Was Set? 55

        Associated Values 55

        Raw Values 56

    Structs 58

        Defining Methods in Structs 59

        Structs Are Always Copied 60

        Mutating Methods 61

        Classes 62

        Initialization 62

        What Is a Reference Type? 64

        Do I Use a Struct or a Class? 64

        Forgot Your Pointer Syntax? 65

        Property Observers 65

        Methods in Classes 66

    Summary 70

5 Making a Game 71

    Building a User Interface (UI) 71

        Importing Assets 72

        Adding Buttons and Labels 73

    The Action-Packed View Controller 75

        Displaying the Player’s Moves 77

        Developing the Concept for an AI 78

        Managing the Game State 79

        Implementing the AI Logic 81

        Finding Victory Conditions 83

        Moving In for the Win 85

        Defending the AI’s Turf and Stealing Center Stage 88

        Taking Sides 89

        When It’s a Draw 89

    Summary 91

6 Reusable Code: Closures 93

    What Are Closures? 93

    Closures in Other Languages 94

    How Closures Work and Why They’re Awesome 95

        The Closure Syntax 96

        Inferring Using Context 96

        Arguments Have a Shorthand, Too 97

        Sorting a Custom Car Class 97

        Closures Are Reference Types 98

        Automatic Reference Counting 99

        Strong Reference Cycles 100

        Trailing Closures 106

    Summary 107

7 Subscripts and Advanced Operators 109

    Writing Your First Subscript 110

    Bits and Bytes with Advanced Operators 113

        Bitwise NOT 114

        Bitwise AND 115

        Bitwise OR 116

        Bitwise XOR 117

        Shifting Bits 118

        UInt8, UInt16, UInt32, Int8, Int16, Int32, and So On 119

        Value Overflow and Underflow 119

    Customizing Operators 120

    Making Your Own Operators 122

    Bits and Bytes in Real Life 123

    Summary 127

8 Protocols 129

    Writing Your First Protocol 129

        Properties 131

    Animizable and Humanizable 134

        Methods 135

    Delegation 136

    Protocols as Types 138

    Protocols in Collections 139

        Protocol Inheritance 140

        Protocol Composition 141

        Protocol Conformity 143

        Optional Protocol Prerequisites 145

    Optional Chaining 147

        Back to Optional Protocol Requisites 148

        Useful Built-in Swift Protocols 149

    Summary 152

9 Becoming Flexible with Generics 153

    The Problem That Generics Solve 153

        Other Uses for Generics 155

        Generics for Protocols 158

        The where Clause 159

    Summary 162

10 Games with SpriteKit 163

    Setting Up the Project 164

        Loading a Scene View 165

        Importing Image Assets 166

    The Start Screen 166

        Custom Colors 167

        Handling Taps 168

    Dangerous Ground 168

        Positioning Obstacles 169

        Moving Obstacles 171

    A Hero to the Rescue 172

        Rotating Nodes 173

        Bar Hopping 174

    Enemies in Motion 175

        Elements of Chance 176

        Tracking a Brick 176

        Tracking All Blocks 177

    Spawned Obstacles 178

        Generating Barriers 178

        Hardcore Mode 179

    Smashing Physics 179

        Invisible Cages 180

        A Hero’s Death 181

    Summary 182

11 Games with SceneKit 183

    Creating DAE Files 183

    Creating a New SceneKit Project 185

    Your SceneKit Files 186

        Setting the Stage 187

        Importing the Assets 188

        Material Properties 189

    Making the Game 191

        Adding a Floor 193

        Adding the Level 194

        Placing Each Block 195

        Creating a Hero 196

    Bridging the Gap to Objective-C 196

        Back to the Hero 197

        Adding the Controls 198

    Summary 201

12 Apps with UIKit 203

    Application Types 203

        Single-View Applications 204

        Adding Constraints 209

        Adding a New View 209

    Loading a Table View 213

    Loading Data from a URL 217

    Summary 218

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