![]() ![]() JVM interoperabilityĪll Android applications run in the Java Virtual Machine. It gives us the ability to build mixed Swift/Java/Kotlin projects with just one button. We created a Gradle plugin for adding a Swift compilation build step. Fortunately, the Android IDE uses a very flexible build system called ‘Gradle’. Of course, it’s great to build Swift code from the command line, but it’s simply more natural for Android developers to use the Android Studio IDE. Along with our toolchain, we provide scripts for SPM that will automate all processes of development and testing Android apps. ![]() This tool provides the ability to connect dependencies, compile code, link artifacts (dynamic libraries or executables) and run tests. It is the build system that Apple uses in the compiler and others Swift libraries. We’re working on being able to use official Swift repository in future.įurthermore, we use Swift Package Manager (SPM) as the build system for Swift. Our fork contains option to disable and dynamic features in compiler because it doesn’t work properly on non-Darwin platforms. We’re currently using forked version of Swift. You can download the toolchain directly from Bintray (Mac only) or compile on your own from GitHub. It is an open-source project based on Apple Swift compiler and SwiftJava and SwiftAndroid projects. That’s why we have the Swift Android Toolchain - a collection of tools that gives Android developers the ability to use Swift in their projects comfortably and without any hassles. We wanted to avoid all the headaches that Android developers typically have to suffer when working with these tools. We realized that we could optimize the many of the hassles present in developing in Swift for Android and at the same time, improve the experience for our developers in this area. One of the biggest hurdles in using Swift compiler for Android is the lack of official support from Apple, which means no continuous integrations or no official builds. And one of the most significant limitations is the generation 32MB+ APK files, because build should include SwiftCode, SwiftFoundation, and libDispatch.Minimum version of Android supported is v5.0 (Lollipop).At the moment, the Swift compiler only supports the ARM-v7A Android platform.What are the limitations of the Swift Android Compiler? Obviously UIKit or any high level frameworks are not available, so your Swift app for iOS cannot magically run on Android - you can use Swift for business logic code, but you will have to re-write all user interface and OS dependent parts specifically for Android. That’s why SwiftFoundation is still missing some features, but it covers all basic needs such as performing network requests, parsing JSON/XML, storing data on disk, etc. But SwiftFoundation on the other hand is not the same Foundation that Apple uses for its own platforms it’s a re-implementation of all classes from the original library. SwiftCore and Dispatch are largely identical to iOS and Mac versions. We only have access to SwiftCore, Dispatch, and SwiftFoundation in our toolchain. Moreover, it’s actually better for developers, because they can re-use most of the instruments that were created for C/C++ development - Android profiling tools or an Android low-level debugger (with a limitation on an evaluation of swift code). That’s why, from an Android device perspective, there is no difference in libraries compiled from C/C++ or Swift code. Google already makes use of LLVM compilers for native Android development with C/C++. ![]()
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