Objective-C and Swift are two of the most popular languages to develop applications for Apple devices. But, despite their similar function, they have different backgrounds and features.

Each language has its strengths and weaknesses. You should understand these before choosing one or the other, depending on your needs.

What Is Objective-C?

The Objective-C programming language is a superset of the C programming language. It inherits most of C’s features, such as its syntax and flow control statements. What makes it a superset is the addition of object-oriented features. For example, the Objective-C language includes the ability to create classes and methods.

In the 1980s, Brad Cox and Tom Love created Objective-C as an open standard programming language. But, today, you’ll mainly use Objective-C to create software for Apple products such as macOS and iOS.

Strengths

  • A high-level programming language.
  • More mature than Swift.

Weaknesses

  • Slower than Swift.
  • Has a manual memory manager. An unused object will continue to consume memory until you explicitly free it.

What Is Swift?

Like Objective-C, Swift is a multi-paradigm language you can use to develop software for Apple products. Swift is a modern programming language that made its debut in 2014. You can use Swift to create software for all Apple platforms and Linux operating systems.

Strengths

  • A high-level programming language.
  • Has an automatic memory manager.
  • Has custom string interpolations, JSON encoding and decoding, and first-class functions.
  • Faster than Objective-C. Uses a high-performance LLVM compiler technology.

Weaknesses

  • A smaller developer community than Objective-C.

Choosing One Programing Language Over the Other

When you’re choosing a programing language to develop Apple software there are two main choices. As a more modern language, Swift has better support for newer platforms like iPadOS and watchOS. Objective-C primarily caters to macOS and iOS.

If you’re developing solely for macOS or iOS, then you can examine the unique features of each language to decide what works best for you.