Swift Kick: Resources for getting started with the Swift programming language

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, chances are that you’re itching to take Apple’s new programming language, Swift, out for a spin. Global Nerdy’s largely about mobile technology these days, and since I’m looking to make it more about mobile development as well, I thought “Hey, here’s a great opportunity to write about programming and cover something new and exciting. I’ve already got my hands on the Xcode 6 beta and iOS 8, as well as Apple’s Swift programming book, and will be noodling with the language for the next little while. I’ll post my observations here, under the category “Swift Kick”.

(If you think that name is silly, my friend David Janes came up with a worse one: “Tailored Swift”. I may still use that name for a presentation.)

I was going to make a tailored Swift joke but apparently the entire Internet already beat me to it.

— Jan/Ian Eilander (@jeilander) June 2, 2014

Swift stuff that’s available to the general public

The Swift site, located at developer.apple.com/swift/, is open to the general public and the first place you should head. Its landing page gives you a quick overview of the language and provides a number of useful links, including the online edition of the ebook The Swift Programming Language.

There’s a reason RayWenderlich.com is one of the go-to sites for iOS developers: they’ve got great articles, and they’re quick to put out tutorials on how to use the latest iDevelopment tools. They’ve done it again by putting out a cheat sheet and reference card for Swift.

And finally, there’s a Swift tag — swift-language — in Stack Overflow, and as of this writing (2:00 pm on Tuesday, June 3, 2014), there are 155 questions with this tag.

Swift stuff that’s available to people with Apple devices

If you have a Mac (necessary if you want to developer for iOS) or an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, you can get your hands on the iBook The Swift Programming Language, which is available for free.

Swift stuff that’s available to registered developers

If you’re a registered iOS or OS X developer, you’ll be able to download the betas for Xcode 6 and iOS 8. Remember that this is beta code: don’t build anything that you’re putting on the market with the Xcode beta, and don’t install the iOS beta on a device that’s critical to your work!

What can we talk about? Where does the NDA apply?

Ole Bergmann points out that Apple has eased up on their NDA (non-disclosure agreement) for the iOS 8 / OS X Yosemite releases. He points to this sentence in the agreement from section 10.1, titled Information Deemed Apple Confidential:

Further, Apple agrees that You will not be bound by the foregoing confidentiality terms with regard to technical information about pre-release Apple Software and services disclosed by Apple at WWDC (Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference), except that You may not post screen shots, write public reviews or redistribute any pre-release Apple Software or services.

It appears to mean that we can talk about material that’s covered in the Swift book, at the very least. Can anyone enlighten us and tell us what else we can talk about?