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Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

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Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#221

Post by TheNightman »

scosman wrote: post #158
searls wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true of the CLIs that start with `xcode` but not of the CLIs that start with `swift`. As `swift-format` and `swift-test` have come into their own, they're just as reliable as any other language ecosystem. And the difference is indeed staggering. I wrote this guide last summer on extracting all your app's code into a (nonsensically necessary) Swift package dependency simply so you can test it with Swift Testin…

Yes! If you’re lucky enough to be writing a library you are in good shape. Swift did things right. I have UI and UI tests and xcodebuild is my nemesis.

That’s why you should break out all of your code into SPM packages/targets. The workspace code only really needs to be the entry point, lifecycle and maybe target-based dependency injection (if you’re into that) or environment config since your SPM dependencies don’t know about your projects preprocessor macros (I.e. `#if DEV` `#if APP_STORE` etc.).

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#222

Post by [deleted] »

willtemperley wrote: post #194
cyrusradfar wrote: post #130

OT: Rant Xcode being loaded on my computer causes something akin to a kernel panic. Not the fun kind where you get to read a backtrace and feel something. The existential kind. Every time it hijacks a .json or .xml file association, I experience a rage that hasn't been matched since the Emacs/vi wars ... and at least those were about editors that could open in under a geological epoch. I just want to look at a text f…

Is this the time for a random Xcode rant? The topic is agentic AI in Xcode. I'd be a lot more interested in hearing what people think about this development, what it means for code privacy, how are the context windows handled, can it be enabled per-project, etc.

[deleted]

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#223

Post by herpdyderp »

robofanatic wrote: post #203

More than writing code the IDE itself makes me anxious. Especially Xcode. Wish they make the IDE interface somewhat simpler by leveraging AI.

With sufficient AI integration, we won't even have to worry about the interface anymore! (I very much look forward to that day for Xcode.)

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#224

Post by [deleted] »

ed_mercer wrote: post #186
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AI is a key part of software engineering now. It most certainly is not, lol. That's the hype that the parent was referring to. Most people have found AI to be a detriment, not a benefit, to their work.

Then how do you explain the massive growth of Claude Code?

[deleted]

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#225

Post by jen20 »

zen928 wrote: post #213
timtimmy wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even with IDEs that have a terminal view, I still much prefer using a separate terminal app.

Why? It seems pretty pointless to keep hot memory of the context of every app and tab you have open as to recall what process and tab and window ties to what thing you were doing at what time, when it's effectively all one related workflow inside your Integrated* Development Environment. Do you just keep a separate dedicated tab in your terminal for actions you would only do against a single directory?

I do the same - largely because I open the IDE with `idea .`/`zed .` (or whatever) from a directory with the correct nix dev shell already loaded in order to ensure the correct toolchains get used.

Typically I have 3-4 different projects open at a time and probably 30-40 terminal windows across them and other places (in Ghostty).

Honestly it had never really crossed my mind that people used the built-in terminal for anything!

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#226

Post by cosmic_cheese »

timtimmy wrote: post #128
spacedcowboy wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sitting here struggling to think of why the hell you need a terminal emulator in an IDE. There's a perfectly good terminal emulator called Terminal.app, it's usually the first thing I put on my dock after a fresh install of MacOS. I like the terminal, but ... in an IDE ? I always wondered why Eclipse had one as well - it just seems like a wasted pane ? Perhaps it's just the setup you (the generic "you") are used…

Even with IDEs that have a terminal view, I still much prefer using a separate terminal app.

Same. Standalone terminals will always beat those built into other things in terms of being good at being a terminal. No need to pile more bloat onto an already bloated IDE/editor, and besides it feels kind of like those old combo TV+VCR units where neither the CRT tube nor the VHS player were great.

If I'd do anything to Xcode or Android Studio, it'd be to split more things out of them and make them excellent at their core tasks.

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#227

Post by cosmic_cheese »

andrekandre wrote: post #181
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you, I think that Xcode maybe gets a worse rap than it deserves, but it's also endlessly frustrating. First, the performance is just bad . The responsiveness compared to apps like VSC or Panic’s Nova is night-and-day. The attention given to the design of new features is piss-poor. Placing the AI functionality on the left sidebar makes no sense; all the other tools on the left are project management; the "let me…

> functionality on the left sidebar makes no sense they really just need to get rid of 'sidebars' and go full-on panel oriented ui so i can put whatever inspector/tool on whatever edge of the window i want; i'm constantly switching between opening panels and closing panels and hunting and pecking for the right panel-within-a-panel with those tiny icons...

I'd like an option to make things like inspectors into floating utility panels like used to be common in Mac apps back in the OS X 10.0-10.6 era. This would be really nice for multi-monitor setups… your editors could use the entirety of the main window while inspectors get tossed over to the laptop's built in screen or maybe onto one of those funky vertical strip external displays.

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#228

Post by zenlot »

embedding-shape wrote: post #65
briandw wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True that Xcode needs yet another rebuild from scratch. If they forked it and abandoned the old project file and went with a swift first approach, could work. However adding support for Claude is still a huge win. Could lead the way to making the transition to a sane IDE possible / reasonable. This would require leadership that’s completely absent at the company.

> If they forked it and abandoned the old project file and went with a swift first approach, could work. Ever attempted this before at a large company and had success with it? I think I can count four times so far in ~15 years where people attempted to rewrite something medium/large-scale from scratch around me, was a success once, although scope was drastically cut at the end so almost a stretch to call it a success…

[dead]

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#229

Post by int_19h »

plorkyeran wrote: post #109
flohofwoe wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My pain points are mostly in the CPU debugger (since I'm not using much of the actual "IDE features" of Xcode except the regular edit-compile-debug loop anyway. Starting a 'cold' debug session into a UI application may take 10-ish seconds until applicationDidFinishLaunching is reached, and most of that time seems to be spent with loading the symbols for hundreds of framework DLLs which are loaded during application s…

Historically one of the big problems with Xcode has been that they only dogfood. There’s people on the team that have not touched any other IDE in decades. They’ve gotten used to all of the quirks, and just don’t really know that things could be better. Every new improvement has to be designed from scratch rather than just ripping off what other IDEs do better. Apple internally has structured their projects to not ru…

> There’s people on the team that have not touched any other ... in decades.

From using Apple products, I get the impression that the same is true for many other things.

Re: Xcode 26.3 – Developers can leverage coding agents directly in Xcode

#230

Post by jamesfinlayson »

plorkyeran wrote: post #109
flohofwoe wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My pain points are mostly in the CPU debugger (since I'm not using much of the actual "IDE features" of Xcode except the regular edit-compile-debug loop anyway. Starting a 'cold' debug session into a UI application may take 10-ish seconds until applicationDidFinishLaunching is reached, and most of that time seems to be spent with loading the symbols for hundreds of framework DLLs which are loaded during application s…

Historically one of the big problems with Xcode has been that they only dogfood. There’s people on the team that have not touched any other IDE in decades. They’ve gotten used to all of the quirks, and just don’t really know that things could be better. Every new improvement has to be designed from scratch rather than just ripping off what other IDEs do better. Apple internally has structured their projects to not ru…

> Every time I’ve talked to someone who has worked on Xcode they’ve expressed the opinion that Xcode is best-in-class and they simply don’t understand why people disagree.

Wow.

I won't say Xcode is anywhere near the worst IDE I've ever used (Eclipse) but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near best in class either.

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