The Swift Playground App

There are a few ways to create iPhone apps, but the most accessible route is the official Swift Playgrounds app. This is an app you download on macOS or on an iPad. To find it in the App Store, search for Swift Playground. Install it on your device and you are ready to start.

You are ready to start playing with the Swift programming language.

Exploring the Swift Playground app

Once you launch the Swift Playground app, you’ll be presented with the welcome screen. You’ll notice that one option is a “Learn to Code” option.

This is a great option for exploring the Swift language. There are lots of interactive playgrounds that will help you to start “thinking” in Swift. These are also great for kids who are looking to start coding.

When creating a new project, you are provided with two options: a new app and a new book.

A New App is an actual skeleton app. This type of playground provides a pane for code with an actual iOS simulator. As you add your code to the playground, the simulator will update with the new results. This is a great way to learn the SwiftUI framework.

A New Book is a code orientated playground. You’ll still see the results of your code, but it doesn’t provide a simulator. You will still see the result of your code printed in text. This is a great way to learn the Swift programming language.

In this course, you’ll start writing code with the book and then on day three, you’ll switch over to a new app.