Dart vs Objective-C vs Swift

Overview

Objective-C

Stacks13.3K

Followers6.5K

Votes490

Swift

Stacks21.9K

Followers13.6K

Votes1.3K

Dart

Stacks4.3K

Followers3.8K

Votes452

Dart vs Objective-C vs Swift: What are the differences?

1. Syntax and Language Features: Dart is a modern, object-oriented language that includes syntax and language features similar to Java or JavaScript. Objective-C is an older, dynamically-typed language with syntax derived from C. Swift, on the other hand, is a modern, statically-typed language specifically designed for iOS and macOS development. It has a cleaner syntax and includes features like optionals, type inference, and generics that enhance the development experience.
2. Performance and Execution: Dart uses a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler during development, which allows for faster code execution and hot reloading. In contrast, Objective-C and Swift use Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation, resulting in faster runtime performance. Swift also offers greater memory safety by incorporating automatic memory management and reference counting.
3. Platform Support: Dart is a cross-platform language that can be used to build web, mobile, and desktop applications. It runs on its own virtual machine and is compatible with multiple platforms. Objective-C, on the other hand, is primarily used for native iOS and macOS app development. Swift is also primarily used for iOS and macOS development, but it is steadily gaining popularity as a cross-platform language through frameworks such as SwiftUI.
4. Code Readability and Maintainability: Dart and Swift have a more readable and concise syntax compared to Objective-C, making code easier to understand and maintain. Dart uses a familiar C-style syntax with modern features, while Swift introduces a more modern and expressive syntax with features like type inference and closures. Objective-C, being an older language, can have more verbose syntax and may require additional code for common tasks.
5. Interoperability and Legacy Code: Objective-C has been the primary language for iOS and macOS development for many years, resulting in a large codebase written in Objective-C. Swift was introduced as a replacement for Objective-C and is designed to work seamlessly with Objective-C code, allowing developers to gradually migrate from Objective-C to Swift. Dart, being a relatively new language, does not have the same level of interoperability with existing Objective-C and Swift code.
6. Community and Ecosystem: Objective-C and Swift have a well-established ecosystem and a large community of developers, resulting in extensive documentation, libraries, and resources available for iOS and macOS development. Dart, while growing in popularity, has a smaller ecosystem and community compared to Objective-C and Swift. However, Dart's cross-platform capabilities make it attractive for projects targeting multiple platforms.

In Summary, Dart and Objective-C/Swift differ in terms of syntax and language features, performance and execution, platform support, code readability and maintainability, interoperability with legacy code, and community and ecosystem. Each language has its own strengths and considerations when choosing the right language for a specific development project.

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Advice on Objective-C, Swift, Dart

Gabor

CTO at momento.

Aug 23, 2021

Decided

As a startup, we need the maximum flexibility and the ability to reach our customers in a more suitable way. So a hybrid application approach is the best because it allows you to develop a cross-platform application in a unique codebase. The choice behind Ionic is Angular, I think that angular is the best framework to develop a complex application that needs a lot of service interaction, its modularity forces you (the developer) to write the code in the correct way, so it can be maintainable and reusable.

209k views209k

Comments

Muhamed

Apr 28, 2020

Needs adviceon

Python

JavaScript

Django

I am currently learning web development with Python and JavaScript course by CS50 Harvard university. It covers python, Flask, Django, SQL, Travis CI, javascript,HTML ,CSS and more. I am very interested in Flutter app development. Can I know what is the difference between learning these above-mentioned frameworks vs learning flutter directly? I am planning to learn flutter so that I can do both web development and app development. Are there any perks of learning these frameworks before flutter?

737k views737k

Comments

vargamatyas

Nov 22, 2020

Needs adviceon

Python

Swift

React Native

Hey guys, I learned the basics (OOP, data structures & some algorithms) with Python, but now I want to learn iOS development. I am considering to learn Swift, but I am afraid how the native mobile development will die out because of the cross-platform frameworks and reviews. My idea is to learn web development first and then learn React Native, and after all of that, finally Swift. What do you think about this roadmap? Should I just learn Swift first due to the pros of the native apps?

126k views126k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Objective-C	Swift	Dart
Objective-C is a superset of the C programming language and provides object-oriented capabilities and a dynamic runtime. Objective-C inherits the syntax, primitive types, and flow control statements of C and adds syntax for defining classes and methods. It also adds language-level support for object graph management and object literals while providing dynamic typing and binding, deferring many responsibilities until runtime.	Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.	Dart is a cohesive, scalable platform for building apps that run on the web (where you can use Polymer) or on servers (such as with Google Cloud Platform). Use the Dart language, libraries, and tools to write anything from simple scripts to full-featured apps.
-	-	Dart’s comprehensive libraries give you lots of choices;Compilation to JavaScript lets you deploy Dart apps now;Pub package manager;Dev Server
Statistics
Stacks 13.3K	Stacks 21.9K	Stacks 4.3K
Followers 6.5K	Followers 13.6K	Followers 3.8K
Votes 490	Votes 1.3K	Votes 452
Pros & Cons
Pros 212 Ios 115 Xcode 62 Backed by apple 47 Osx 40 Interface builder Cons 1 UNREADABLE	Pros 259 Ios 180 Elegant 126 Not Objective-C 107 Backed by apple 93 Type inference Cons 6 Must own a mac 2 Memory leaks are not uncommon 1 Its classes compile to roughly 300 lines of assembly 1 Very irritatingly picky about things that’s 1 Is a lot more effort than lua to make simple functions	Pros 60 Backed by Google 54 Flutter 39 Twice the speed of Javascript 35 Great tools 30 Scalable Cons 3 Lack of ORM 3 Locked in - JS or TS interop is very hard to accomplish 0 A
Integrations
No integrations available	Cocoa Touch (iOS)	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Objective-C, Swift, Dart?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

Dart vs Objective-C vs Swift: What are the differences?

1. Syntax and Language Features: Dart is a modern, object-oriented language that includes syntax and language features similar to Java or JavaScript. Objective-C is an older, dynamically-typed language with syntax derived from C. Swift, on the other hand, is a modern, statically-typed language specifically designed for iOS and macOS development. It has a cleaner syntax and includes features like optionals, type inference, and generics that enhance the development experience.
2. Performance and Execution: Dart uses a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler during development, which allows for faster code execution and hot reloading. In contrast, Objective-C and Swift use Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation, resulting in faster runtime performance. Swift also offers greater memory safety by incorporating automatic memory management and reference counting.
3. Platform Support: Dart is a cross-platform language that can be used to build web, mobile, and desktop applications. It runs on its own virtual machine and is compatible with multiple platforms. Objective-C, on the other hand, is primarily used for native iOS and macOS app development. Swift is also primarily used for iOS and macOS development, but it is steadily gaining popularity as a cross-platform language through frameworks such as SwiftUI.
4. Code Readability and Maintainability: Dart and Swift have a more readable and concise syntax compared to Objective-C, making code easier to understand and maintain. Dart uses a familiar C-style syntax with modern features, while Swift introduces a more modern and expressive syntax with features like type inference and closures. Objective-C, being an older language, can have more verbose syntax and may require additional code for common tasks.
5. Interoperability and Legacy Code: Objective-C has been the primary language for iOS and macOS development for many years, resulting in a large codebase written in Objective-C. Swift was introduced as a replacement for Objective-C and is designed to work seamlessly with Objective-C code, allowing developers to gradually migrate from Objective-C to Swift. Dart, being a relatively new language, does not have the same level of interoperability with existing Objective-C and Swift code.
6. Community and Ecosystem: Objective-C and Swift have a well-established ecosystem and a large community of developers, resulting in extensive documentation, libraries, and resources available for iOS and macOS development. Dart, while growing in popularity, has a smaller ecosystem and community compared to Objective-C and Swift. However, Dart's cross-platform capabilities make it attractive for projects targeting multiple platforms.

Dart vs Objective-C vs Swift

Overview