Quick question: Does it mean now we can write games on Windows using SDL + Swift, and it will run on MacOS without any change at all?
Quick answer: no.
Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
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Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#22This is really exciting. Every time I see something about Swift my thought process is "that looks like a lovely language but I don't build iOS/macOS apps, oh well". Maybe now I'll give it a real go. Fun fact: Graydon Hoare, the original inventor of Rust, now works at Apple on Swift.
That's an outdated but sadly common perception. TensorFlow for example is pushing Swift pretty hard: https://www.tensorflow.org/swift/ Disclaimer: I work at Google but not on TensorFlow.
didn't all of the original authors of TF4S, including Chris Lattner, leave?
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#23Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#24Wonder if some macOS only software will get ported to Windows once this happens. That if course is assuming there’s good support for the Windows APIs for building apps
More likely Apple will just write server-side Swift code that we never see. I really hope they open some, the linux ecosystem for Swift is a little small
i only know of a couple of server side swift software and one of them by IBM was discontinued.
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple is strengthening their services revenue. They week profit from the extra reach. Also, people will continue to but their hardware because the alternatives aren’t that great Simple example.... the MacBook trackpad
Ten years ago when I was offered a choice, I told the office manager I wanted a MacBook because of the trackpad. Apple’s trackpads are even better now. How has nobody figured out Apple’s 2010s trackpad technology?
How has nobody figured out Apple’s 2010s trackpad technology?
I think because the focus is so much on the trackpad technology itself, which may be a misplaced focus. My fear is that the solution may involve rearchitecting the entire application-GUI stack to get it working on Linux. Why? Because Apple's trackpad is not a mouse emulator, it's a first class input device all the way up to the application. Trying to make the driver really smart is fruitless if you throw out all of that rich information and try to reduce the inputs down to what a mouse is capable of.
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#26What’s the best resource to learn Swift? Should I grab a Bluetooth keyboard and go through Swift Playgrounds on iPad? Or is that more for children brand new to programming?
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quick answer: no.
Could you please explain why?
No OP, and I don't know much about game development, but "without any change at all" is too strong. SDL only does so much, and you still need platform-specific APIs for file access, networking (if applicable), threading, etc. So you'll still need platform-specific code until someone writes those abstractions in Swift.
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you please explain why?
No OP, and I don't know much about game development, but "without any change at all" is too strong. SDL only does so much, and you still need platform-specific APIs for file access, networking (if applicable), threading, etc. So you'll still need platform-specific code until someone writes those abstractions in Swift.
not OP either. but i think the problem is simple. apple said no to opengl, which any other platform out there supports.
btw, they are even deprecating opengl! i have no idea what that means for the tons of games written with an opengl backend. probably not an issue for the iOS ecosystem though.
so that's what is going on...
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#29What’s the best resource to learn Swift? Should I grab a Bluetooth keyboard and go through Swift Playgrounds on iPad? Or is that more for children brand new to programming?
I don't think you can beat:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-swift-programming-langua...
Xcode Playgrounds (different from the iPad/macOS Playgrounds app) are really helpful for learning the language or testing things out.
For a complete course, see http://web.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/drupal/.
Apple also has a series on creating iOS apps. It may be too beginner focused though. https://books.apple.com/book/id1118575552
Re: Swift 5.3 Will Be Supported on Windows and Additional Linux Distributions
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's an outdated but sadly common perception. TensorFlow for example is pushing Swift pretty hard: https://www.tensorflow.org/swift/ Disclaimer: I work at Google but not on TensorFlow.
didn't all of the original authors of TF4S, including Chris Lattner, leave?
Yes they all did