Lyft bet on Apple programming language Swift

Lyft bet on Apple programming language Swift returns 1 years later bi Chinese station August 22 report

More than a year ago, the taxi app Lyft made a big decision to bet on the apple-developed programming language, Swift, to rewrite all of its iphone app code in this programming language.

This is a very risky bet, after all, Swift has not experienced much in the real world, and it is the programming language Apple has just launched in 2014. Most iphone applications are written in the Objective-c programming language, which was developed as early as 1984. For many programmers, they are already familiar with the OBJECTIVE-C programming language and have many lessons to learn.

However, Lyft chief technology officer Chris Lambert (Chris Lambert) believes the risk is worth risking. The introduction of Swift means that Apple sees it as the future of iphone app development. And Lyft hopes to be ready for the "future" ahead of time.

Lambert says that since 1 years of rewriting its iphone app with Swift, Lyft apps have been able to add more features faster, while also reducing the time it takes to open applications. As a result, more and more Apple users are starting to use Lyft, which brings great benefits to Lyft's business.

In addition, the use of Swift to rewrite applications also brings many unexpected benefits. In the past 1 years, Lambert says, the code that supports Lyft applications has doubled, largely because Lyft developers are using the new programming language to improve productivity.

Outside of Lyft, Swift is also gaining praise, known as the easiest programming language to learn, and it's fun to write code. Lambert also praised Apple for developing Swift's process, saying: "Every little detail of this programming language has been rebuilt." ”

In addition, the use of swift on such a large scale signals to job seekers that Lyft not only "dabble" in this programming language. In the past 1 years alone, the company has added 10 new swift developers. This is no pointless move in Silicon Valley's ongoing talent-recruiting battle. Lyft is taking Swift seriously, and the developer community is responding.

Lambert said the swift shift to Lyft's iphone team injected new energy. When Apple launched Swift for the first time in 2014, Lyft developers began learning the programming language on evenings and weekends to prepare for the upheaval.

People are so excited that they act on their own, though not yet to give up objective-c. It's not a trivial effort to rewrite the app, and the sooner you do it, the less code they need to write from scratch, says Lambert.

At the same time, Lambert admits that Lyft has also been caught in a dilemma. But with Apple's full support, its programming language community has grown. "Apple has become increasingly sensitive to problem solving," Lambert said. ”

Lyft bet on Apple programming language Swift