USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS HOW TO
USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS UPDATE
USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS CODE

For example the Swift Package Manager prefers to use static linking, but Xcode will try to build SPM packages as dynamic dependencies. рџ‘€ Should I choose dynamic or static linking? The operating system will try to load the generated dylib file so the application resolves the symbols based on the reference pointers. If you want to run your application you have to make sure that the referenced dynamic library is available to use. When you make the final version of your app, the system will put references of the dynamic library to your executable instead of copying the contents of the dylib file. First you have to build your library as a dynamic dependency using the Swift compiler, this will produce a dynamic (binary) library file and a module map (header files). The main difference between a static and a dynamic library is that you don't copy every required symbol to the executable application binary when you use a dylib file, but some of the 'undefined' symbols will be resolved at runtime. When you run the app, required objects will be there already inside the binary file, so you can run it as it is. This way when your app is composed the symbols from the lib (classes, methods, etc) can be copied to the main executable file).

Now when you compile the main app, you have to tell the compiler the location of your static (binary) library, and the publicly accessible objects (headers or module map) that are available to use.

USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS HOW TO

You can easily build a static library using the compiler (you'll see how to make one later on), then you can import this library inside your application source (import MyLibrary). The static library approach is more simple. By the way, you have to decide this upfront, since you have to build either a static or a dynamic library. Dynamic linking on the other hand means that your library dependencies will be resolved at runtime.

USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS CODE

Static linking means that the source code inside the library will be literally copy-pasted into your application binary. When you use a library you can choose between two approaches. So, last time, you know, when we talked about the Swift compiler and linker, I mentioned, that they can resolve dependencies in your program. Oh wait, there is a bug in the lib, how can I fix it? Well, this is where things get a bit complicated, but don't worry too much, I'll try to explain how it works. This way you can outsource Swift code into a separate file (or bunch of files), throw in some access control to allow other apps to use public methods and call functions from your library and here we go, we just shared our common code between our applications. A shared library is a special kind of binary component that you can use in your main application. рџ§ ДЇortunately computer programmers faced the exact same issue, so they invented shared libraries. Well, this could work of course, but what happens if you discover a bug in the pluralization component? Now you have to fix the issue at two places, since you've just duplicated the entire stuff. The first thing that can cross your mind is to copy all the source code from the first application into the second one. In your next application, you face the exact same issue, you have to print countable items (e.g 2 bananas). It works great, you finish the app and you start working on your next one. Imagine that you are creating a simple application to pluralize a string. We were seeing compile times of 15 minutes on average even if your only change was a comment!В In comparison, the new swift compiler in Swift 1.2 gave us an average of 1-3 minutes for each compilation.A library is a collection of Swift components that other applications can use. We had a huge, mature project at this point so the compile times were killing us. In particular, I'm talking about the enhancement that changed the recompilation of every swift file everytime you started a build to the new fancy-schmancy incremental compilations. What made this worth it was the enhancements to the Swift compiler.

USING SWIFT TO COMPILE C ON MACOS UPDATE

The update changed the syntax of the language and populated our projects with what seemed like a thousand errors when running our projects in the new Xcode Beta at the time. The move from Swift 1.1 to Swift 1.2 was a big one if you recall. It wasn't until 7 months later that I realized it was even more powerful than it seemed, and that scripting in swift was not only possible but quite easy! The Story. Hell, it was the only instinct I had when learning the language the day it first came out.

Since Apple came out with Swift,В most of us have focused on using it to write our iOS/Mac OS X applications it was the first instinct we had upon learning the language.

Using swift to compile c on macos