Best Books to Learn Swift Programming in 2020 & Beyond

February 18, 2020

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It took years to create Swift programming language and since its inception, it continues to evolve with new features and capabilities. Often referred to as “Objective-C without the C”, you can consider this language as a superior to Objective-C in many aspects. In this blog, we will be highlighting the basics of Swift and the Best Books To Learn Swift Programming In 2020 & Beyond.

Swift is basically a compiled programming language created for iOS, tvOS, macOS, watchOS and Linux apps. It is an object-oriented, general-purpose, multi-paradigm, imperative, block-structured and functional language. This programming language was created by Apple using a modern approach for software design patterns and safety.

Soon after its arrival, Swift became one of the top programming languages among the Apple Developer Community replacing the old school Objective-C. It gained its popularity because of some of its features that were hard to match. These include:

It is very easy to read or maintain
Highly scalable
Concise
Secure
Improved performance
Automatic memory management
Cross-device support

Now let’s dive into the top books that can help you learn Swift Programming Language.

Best Swift Programming Language Books

1. Pro iPhone Development with Swift 5

If you think you are already familiar with the Swift programming language or the iOS SDK then get ready to take your skill to a higher level with this book. If you know the basics of Swift or iOS programming then this is one of the best books that will help you up your Swift programming skills and knowledge.

It is a book that is referred to as a follow up of the bestseller called “Beginning iPhone Development with Swift” and will help you learn all the tips and tricks related to debugging and organizing Swift code, passing data between view controllers, using multi-threaded programming with Grand Central Dispatch and designing applications for multiple languages.

2. iOS 10 Programming Fundamentals with Swift: Swift, Xcode, and Cocoa Basics 1st Edition

Learn all the fundamentals of iOS development along with the Cocoa Touch framework, Xcode IDE and the latest version of Swift. This thoroughly updated guide on Swift programming will teach you about object-oriented concepts, the right way of using Apple development tools and finding out underlying functionality required by iOS apps from Cocoa.

This is also a perfect book if you are seeking to create an iOS application by learning the right way to do it. Though this book will not teach you how to build an application in iOS but will explain to you all the fundamentals along with the basics of iOS. It will help you understand all the basics underlying Swift language. I find this book one of the best books for learning Swift programming from the basics.

3. Learning Swift: Building Apps for macOS, iOS, and Beyond- 3rd Edition

This practical guide will be a good fit for you to have a valuable hands-on experience of the open-source programming language, Swift. “Learning Swift” will help you to code with the latest version of Swift by developing a functioning iOS application from scratch.

It works for everyone, whether you are a skilled programmer or a programmer with little or no knowledge. The two-third of this book is dedicated to explaining how to write iOS applications. This book is basically for a typical Apple developer who is mostly interested in iOS development.

4. iOS 10 in Swift 3

This book will help you to transform your skills from absolute beginners’ level to functional iOS developer. It explains all the concepts, tools and techniques that are required by any typical Apple developer for building professional iOS applications using iOS 10, Swift 3 and Xcode 8. Upon completion of this book, you will have all the skills and confidence needed to design and build your own iOS applications.

Some of the best things about this book were:

Paperback version is not heavy

I always prefer the paperback version as it is good for writing and highlighting on the book. You are right, this book is thick as a dictionary, and however, it is not as heavy.

Organized and well-presented content

This book includes over 1000 pages of content that don’t give you a hard time while reading. The content is so well organized that all the text is double line spaced, includes diagrams, pictures, screenshot, and others for explaining the content. Contrary to other similar books, it doesn’t include long boring paragraphs or the important information cramped up in a few lines. This book is more of a reader-friendly with proper paragraphs having well-illustrated content.

Written in easy language

It is a perfect book for you if you are not a native speaker of English. Unlike many books that include typical English and complicated phrases, it includes simple words and easy-to-understand English. The authors did a good job in explaining all the terms and concepts in layman terms. You can even read it if you have zero knowledge of coding.

5. Swift Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide- 2nd Edition

This book will help you develop a complete understanding of grammar related to Swift and all the elements of an effective Swift style with all the carefully constructed examples and explanations.

Moreover, this book has also managed to get the backing of Big Nerd Ranch. To all of you who are not familiar with the Big Nerd Ranch, then they have been involved in Cocoa training and development for probably 2 decades. And this book serves justice to their backing.

6. Swift: The Complete Guide for Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced Detailed Strategies To Master Swift Programming

It will allow you to go through all the steps and processes for designing iOS applications and is suitable for everyone. Whether you are a skilled programmer or just the newbie who has started programming, it will be a perfect fit for you to learn different ways of creating exclusive iOS applications by uncovering all the secrets. You will learn all the building blocks of designing a great app such as Xcode, Swift, and others by digging deep into the application development.

In this complete guide on Swift programming, you will find clear instructions broken into central issues of each. Though it is more costly than any other book of its kind, it is also one of the best. It includes clear instructions and guidelines that are simplified into primary areas of concern.

7. Classic Computer Science Problems in Swift: Essential Techniques for Practicing Programmers 1st Edition

This book helps you to deepen your skills in Swift programming by explaining to you all the foundational coding techniques and algorithms. It will help you remember important things that you have forgotten while exploring examples in search, clustering, graphs and so much more. Classic Computer Science Problems in Swift will also help you in discovering classic solutions for all your complicated and new problems. The author has been successful in connecting the core concepts of computer science to real-world issues related to applications, performance, data, and even job interviews.

This book includes a great blend of protocol-oriented, object-oriented and functional examples. Moreover, you are also enforced to build a reusable framework code along with several examples of features related to advanced Swift that includes protocol extensions and generics. Even the playground code is included for each chapter that is simple-to-read, well-documented and thoroughly explained.

8. Swift in Depth- 1st Edition

If you want something that guides you through all the skills in a concept-by-concept way for building your professional software related to Apple platforms like Mac or iOS then it is the book you desire. It will also help you in working on a server with Linux. Swift in Depth includes several enlightening explanations, concrete explanations and exciting exercise that will help you in learning all the powerful techniques like efficient error handling, generics, advanced Swift patterns and protocol-oriented programming in no time. Its author Tjeerd Veen shows all the difficulties to discover Swift techniques that he understood the hard way in the simplest form.

9. Beginning iOS 12 & Swift App Development: Develop iOS Apps with Xcode 10, Swift 4, Core ML 2, ARKit 2 and more

Beginning iOS 12 and Swift App Development will take you on a hands-on, fun and pragmatic journey of learning iOS 12 app development using Swift programming language. Upon completing this book, you’ll be able to build your first application within minutes. This book is very lucid, to the point and content is written in a bite-sized manner that will not waste your valuable time. Till the time you finish this book, you’ll gain all the skills required for you to create an application and its submission to the Apple store.

10. iOS Apprentice: Beginning iOS development with Swift 4.2

This iOS apprentice book will teach you to make your own iPad and iPhone apps with its 4 epic-length and engaging tutorials. All hands-on tutorials are described in full detail on building a new iOS-based application from scratch. Its four tutorials cover 4 different applications that are way different from each other. Every next application is more advanced than the previous one. When learned together, they cover everything that is required to create your own apps.

Furthermore, if you are a beginner then you will love this book as the author walks you through all the concepts in a step-by-step manner by covering everything in a detailed manner. Also, the author of this book is kind enough to emphasize or repeat certain concepts for complete learning.

11. Mastering Swift 5: Deep dive into the latest edition of the Swift programming language- 5th Edition

Mastering Swift 5 includes all the key features of Swift 5 that are explained in detail with the complete sets of examples. From the basics to the popular features of Swift programming such as generics, concurrency, and memory management, this book will help you gain expertise and all the skills related to Swift programming.

One of the best parts that I loved about this book is that it is not solely focused on iOS programming but revolves more around Swift language. This is beneficial as 99% of all the knowledge gained from this book can be used for iOS related, MacOS and Server Side Swift developments.

12. iOS 12 Programming for Beginners: An introductory guide to iOS app development with Swift 4.2 and Xcode 10- 3rd Edition

If you are a beginner then this book will unfold with the basic introduction of iOS development and as you progress, it will give you insights into Xcode and Swift. In case, if you are already an experienced programmer then you can jump ahead to learn all the latest iOS 12 features.

It will also give you insights on advanced topics on iOS design such as animations and gestures that will give your app an extra edge over others. “iOS 12 Programming for Beginners” is a great book for exploring all the new Swift 4.2 and iOS 12 developments by implementing new features. These include custom UI notifications, latest in notifications, maps, and Sirikit.

13. From Zero to iOS Hero: Swift Development for Kids and Teens

Since the time I read it, I found this book amazing. The best part was the extent to which the author explained all the concepts behind the language and projects along with all the examples. It really helped me a lot to develop some working knowledge of Swift and Xcode.

It is very easy to understand and follow all the concepts. Not only this but “From Zero to iOS Hero” teaches you all the tools, the interface and builds apart from all the base of your knowledge. It gets harder and more challenging as you progresses. This book includes all the code examples and pictures that really make learning very easy.

14. High-Performance iOS Apps: Optimize Your Code for Better Apps 1st Edition

Do you want to build iOS-based applications that have the potential to outperform rest? If yes then this practical guide is a perfect solution for your need. If you are an app developer with prior knowledge of creating applications then this guide will provide you all the top practices and tips that will help you solve many of your common performance issues related to applications. High-performance iOS apps will not only teach you to design the apps but also help you in optimizing your iOS apps that will deliver a super smooth experience even in case of low or poor network.

15. Swift Development Documentation

Swift programming is very friendly to new programmers and is also a programming language of industrial-quality that is equally enjoyable and expressive just like any scripting language. Though this resource is not a book but is a guide that will help you to test your experiments with code. You can see your results immediately without the headache of building or running an iOS application.

Wrapping Up!

It’s no doubt that today, Swift programming language has become one of the most popular and widely-used languages for iOS related developments. It provides several features along with its simplicity and easy-to-learn nature that attracts a huge number of programmers from all over the world. In this article, I have listed down some of the best books that really helped me to learn and sharpen my Swift programming language.

I hope that you will find this list useful and begin with all these books to explore one of the easiest yet essential programming languages for Apple-related programming. If you think we have missed out on any books that are worth mentioning then do comment in the below section.

Best Books to Learn Swift Programming in 2020 & Beyond