Steve Jobs' vision on programming language
Technology changes fast and industry’s demand is changing fast too. The clear trend today is in mobility with medical devices, Internet of Thing (IoT), and enterprise mobile apps. Last week I visited Apple Company to learn about their new programming language called Swift.
A manager explained: “Swift is a new programming language developed by Apple for iOS and OS X. In the future, all Apple products will use Swift instead of Objective C. We are exciting about this language as it will be our key language for all future development. Swift is similar to Ruby and Python with some C syntax and you can still utilize Objective-C files with Swift code. For many years, Steve Jobs always wanted to create a new programming language that is easy to learn, so we can train a lot of people to write code quickly. Steve also wanted it to be fast so it can be used in specific industry domains. After several years of research, we believe that we have met his vision.”
Another manager told me: “Swift is designed so anyone can learn it quickly, including children. That was Steve Jobs’ vision to have everybody write code in the 21st century. But he insisted that it must also be good enough to be used in “industrial-quality systems” so all future computers can be programmed with this language. In terms of speed, Swift uses the LLVM compiler, and compiles Swift code to optimized native code depending on target device. Basically, Swift is about 3 times faster than Objective-C and 9 times faster than Python. Because faster running code is more efficient for mobile apps, it makes a better experience for all future mobile users. Steve Jobs’ demand that Apple has to create a “Perfect users’ experience” for everything it produces. That is why we work hard to create this programming language.”
I asked: “But Apple also created Objective C and it is very popular among mobile apps developers. Why do you need to change to a new language?
The manager explained: “Objective-C is old, it was created several years ago and it is a difficult language for non-computing people to learn. Of course college students in Computer Science and Software Engineering would think that Objective C is easy. But Business students, Arts students, Architecture students or young children in high school or elementary school may not be able to learn Objective C that easy. Steve Jobs wanted a special programming language for everybody, young and old, college students, as well as elementary students to learn to write code in few weeks. That is why we develop this new programming language as a modern language for all Apple hardware.”
Of course, my friends at Microsoft and Google did not share that view. They told me that everything Steve Jobs did is only to promote his company and to sell more Apple’s product. A friend said: “Steve Jobs is probably the best salesman in the world; he can sell almost anything and the whole world believes in him.”
I reminded him that even Steve Jobs is no longer here, his company is still doing very well, Apple is currently the largest company on earth; and his vision is still benefit a lot of people. Creating a new programming language that is fast with industry quality is not easy. But make it so everyone can learn to write computer program in few weeks, is definitely a wonderful vision that deserved to be admired.
For information on Swift:
- https://www.apple.com/swift/
- https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
