Apple's Swift programming language is now open source
Apple OS XiOS"Swift.Apache License.Swift'.."'..""'"..'. Chance Miller / 9to5Mac : Craig Federighi explains motivation behind making Swift open source & what the future holds Help Net Security : Tyler Lee / Ubergizmo : Apple's Swift Language Is Now Open Source Robert Bartley / FierceMobileIT News : Open sourcing Apple's Swift could attract even more mobile app developers to iOS Kieren McCarthy / The Register : Now you can tailor Swift - Apple open-sources the whole shebang John Kennedy / Silicon Republic : Matt Blowes / Neowin : Apple's Swift programming language now open source Eric Zeman / ProgrammableWeb.com : Apple Hopes to Grow Swift's Footprint Through Open Source Dan Thorp-Lancaster / iMore : Apple's Craig Federighi talks about open sourcing Swift Roger Fingas / AppleInsider : Apple's Federighi positions open-sourced Swift as ‘primary,’ scalable programming language Brandon Chester / AnandTech : Apple Open Sources The Swift Programming Language MacDailyNews : Apple officially releases Swift programming language as open source Serdar Yegulalp / InfoWorld : Apple's open source Swift takes flight at last Barb Darrow / Fortune : Apple's Latest Push For Business Customers Kyt Dotson / SiliconANGLE : Apple officially open sources the Swift programming language compiler and tools Brent Dirks / App Advice : Apple takes the Swift programming language open source Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica UK : Apple open-sources Swift, posts the language to GitHub MacNN : Apple open-sources Swift programming language István Fekete / iPhone in Canada Blog : Apple Open-Sources Swift Programming Language Daniel Bader / MobileSyrup.com : Apple open sources its Swift programming language Caitlin McGarry / Network World : Apple makes Swift open source, so its influence will reach beyond the walled garden Christian Zibreg / iDownloadBlog.com : Apple officially makes its Swift programming language open source Evan Selleck / iPhone Hacks : Swift, Apple's programming language, is now open source Danbo / MAC" blog : Apple'.Swift 2' — AppleWWDC2015.Swift 2'.GitHub. — Swift'Swift.org Christian Nutt / Gamasutra : Apple open-sources Swift programming language Jake Rocheleau / WhatPixel : Apple's Swift Programming Langauge is now Open Source Jesse Hollington / iLounge : Apple unveils Swift open source community Brad Jones / Digital Trends : Apple releases open source version of Swift programming language Edgar Alvarez / Engadget : Apple makes its Swift programming language open source Adam Westlake / SlashGear : Apple programming language Swift goes open source Federico Viticci / MacStories : Apple Open Sources Swift Tweets: Max Weisel / @mxweas : I love that Apple kept all of their git history when open sourcing swift. http://github.com/... Tyler Fox / @smileyborg : Now that Swift is open source...brace yourself for massive breaking changes coming soon in Swift 3.0: http://github.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands six months after Apple used the Swift 2 announcement at WWDC to commit publicly to open-sourcing the language — a notable reversal for a company that had kept its toolchain closed since Objective-C. The promise was credible because enterprise adoption had already given Swift a constituency outside Apple: LinkedIn and American Airlines reported productivity gains and fewer errors after moving to it.
Delivering under an Apache License and publishing the compiler and tools to GitHub converts that momentum into something contributors can legally fork, extend, and port. The follow-on open-source benchmarking suite shows Apple treating the ecosystem, not just the language, as shared infrastructure.
First-order effects
- Developers can now read, modify, and redistribute Swift's compiler and tools under the Apache License, ending Apple's monopoly over the toolchain it ships with Xcode.
Second-order effects
- Apple's pitch to enterprises hardens against rival platforms: a language already credited with fewer errors at LinkedIn and American Airlines is now extensible by those companies' own engineers rather than locked to Apple's release cadence.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, open-sourcing the flagship language becomes table stakes for platform owners competing for developer mindshare — control shifts from who owns the language to who hosts the healthiest contribution community around it.
The trend: Platform owners are opening their core programming languages as a distribution strategy, betting that contributor ecosystems attract more developers than closed control ever did.