If you construct a function called twoStepsForwardTurnAround(), that function will appear as a suggested option, too. Swift Playgrounds suggests contextually appropriate commands so you're not fishing through an entire glossary of options. When programming, you type your code on the left side of the screen. Second, it gives you concrete programming tasks to accomplish, such as guiding an animated cartoon character through various puzzles involving gems, toggle switches and teleportation pads.Īpple's Swift Playgrounds app uses graphics to show how a collection of commands can be grouped into a single function that you can invoke again and again to control an animated character. First, it strips away the complexities of modern programming so you can get started quickly. But Swift Playgrounds is good enough that you needn't be an Apple fanboy to benefit from it. Of course, Apple would be happy to see tomorrow's coders equipped to create iPhone, iPad and Mac software with Apple's own programming tools. With Swift Playgrounds, Apple wanted to build a cool tool that gives people coding skills the company thinks are increasingly necessary in the 21st century, when technology bleeds into every corner of our work and personal lives. And just so you know, some older iPads like the first-generation iPad Mini can't run it. You'll need Apple's new iOS 10 software, also arriving Tuesday. It's geared for middle school kids, but adults can learn too - it sucked me in. So when Apple releases Swift Playgrounds on Tuesday in the App Store, I recommend giving it a try. We didn't exactly have to pry him away, but he had reached that just-one-more-level-before-dinner type of self-motivation that warms an educator's heart. With those three words from my 11-year-old son, I knew Apple had a hit on its hands with Swift Playgrounds, its iPad app for learning the company's Swift programming language. Apple's Swift Playgrounds app is geared for seventh graders, but people younger or older can use it too.

Swift playground coding