In this article, we delve into the world of Swift development and showcase the top 15 frameworks that can greatly simplify the developer experience. These frameworks have been selected based on their versatility, functionality, and popularity in the Swift community. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting out, these frameworks are sure to enhance your iOS development process and streamline your work.

Is Swift a framework or language?

Swift is a multipurpose, multi-paradigm compiled language created by Apple Inc. It is used for macOS, iPadOS, iOS, watchOS, Linux, and tvOS. The team that developed it makes use of an open-source LLVM compiler framework. In other words, Swift is labeled as one of the very new programming languages that concentrate more on expressivity, performance, and safety.

Furthermore, Swift’s introduction is to make it better than Objective C in terms of resilience and expressiveness. 

What are frameworks in Swift?

On the other end, frameworks in Swift are a platform for building software applications that prevent the stress of starting from scratch when developing.

Every programming language framework is known for its robustness, efficiency, and versatility.

Using Swift frameworks, developers will only be concerned with the high-level functionality of an application because the framework will take care of the low-level functionality.

Which framework is used in Swift iOS?

Cocoa Touch framework is used to build applications for IOS, which is part of the Cocoa framework ecosystem used for developing applications for macOS.

What IDE is best for Swift?

There are several Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) available for Swift development, and the best one for you may depend on your personal preferences and needs. You can read this article on Swift IDE for more information.

Does Swift have a framework?

There are plenty of frameworks available in swift, in this article, we will discuss the top 15 Swift frameworks available that can ease the developers’ life.

1. Quick

Certainly, this is described as the Swift and Objective-C behavior-driven development framework. In addition, the design and creation of this particular framework depend on RSpecSpecta, and Ginkgo.

Swift Frameworks
Quick

Features:

  • In short, it is simply a Swift (and Objective-C) testing framework

2. Vapor

To sum up, Vapor is widely known as a web framework for the Swift programming language. In addition, it is highly suited for projects concerned with websites, API, and cloud computing because it has an amazingly expressive and simple foundation.

Features:

  • To sum up, it is popularly called a server-side web framework for Swift

3. SwiftMonkey

Developers find this framework useful in creating randomised user input in iOS applications. It makes use of Swift 4.0 without having to depend on anything except iOS.

Swift Frameworks
SwiftMonkey

Features:

  • Most importantly, it is inspired by UI AutoMonkey
  • SwiftMonkey is used for performing randomised UI testing of iOS applications

4. Kitura

This called a web framework and server written in Swift language for the main purpose of handling web services.

Swift Frameworks
Kitura

Features:

  • It’s a web framework for Swift that users would like because it’s fast, flexible and easy
  • In conclusion, it’s a Swift web framework and HTTP server

5. SwiftyFORM

Do you think of creating forms? SwiftyFORM is a lightweight framework for doing that. In addition, this framework depends on iOS 9+, Xcode 11+, and Swift 5.1+.

Swift Frameworks
SwiftyFORM

Features:

  • It has nothing to do with 3rd party dependencies but pure Swift
  • Furthermore, many form items. For example, textfield, buttons, sliders, etc.
  • In conclusion, it’s Strongly Typed

6. Zip

This is a framework for Swift used in zipping and unzipping files. In addition, it’s created on top of minizip.

Swift Frameworks
Zip

Features:

  • A Swift 4.0 framework

7. SwiftShell

In short, it is simpler to describe SwiftShell as a Swift framework for shell scripting.

Swift Frameworks
SwiftShell

Features:

  • It is used for building command-line applications in Swift language
  • In addition, you can also use it to run shell commands in Swift

8. Chatto

This is a lightweight framework for the Swift programming language for the main purpose of creating chat applications.

Chatto

Features:

  • Most importantly, it’s known for its extensibility and high performance
  • Text and Photo bubbles
  • It supports pagination during autoloading and also in different directions

9. SwiftyOnboard

You are allowed to use this simple framework to add onboarding to any iOS applications of your choice. In addition, for this framework, you will need iOS 9+ and Xcode 7.3+.

Features:

  • A simple iOS framework

10. SwiftCLI

To sum up, this is best described as a powerful Swift framework for creating CLIs.

Features:

  • Anyone on this framework will be offered Help messages, Usage statements, Option parsing, Error messages when commands aren’t used in the right way, etc.

11. SwiftyDraw

In short, this is simply called a drawing framework that is created through the use of Core Graphics. In addition, it’s so simple to implement.

Features:

  • Simple and lightweight
  • Most importantly, it requires iOS 9+ and Swift 5.0

12. GzipSwift

This is just a Swift framework with an extension of Data. In addition, it makes use of Zlib to enable gzip/gunzip Data.

Features:

  • It needs OS X 10.9 / iOS 8 / watchOS 2 / tvOS 9+ and Swift version 5.0, 5.1
  • It allows the use of Zlib to compress/decompress gzip

13. Postal

This is simply a framework for Swift language that offers help in providing access to every popular email provider.

Features:

  • Most importantly, it depends on Xcode 10, OS X 10.1+ and iOS 8.0+
  • In conclusion, it’s a Swift framework for handling emails

14. PhoneNumberKit

This is a Swift framework used to parse, format, and validate international phone numbers. Furthermore, its creation is based on Google’s libphonenumber.

Swift Frameworks
PhoneNumberKit

Features:

  • It’s customizable
  • PhoneNumberKit is created specifically for iOS

15. FormValidatorSwift

Developers conveniently make use of this framework for validating inputs of text fields and text views.

Features:

  • Most importantly, it depends on Xcode
  • So users can create their own validators
  • In conclusion, it supports iOS, macOS, and tvOS

Conclusion

The awesome frameworks for the Swift programming language we have provided in this article are some of the best you can find around. By utilizing these frameworks, developers can save time, reduce errors, and increase their productivity. Ultimately, the right framework for you will depend on the needs of your specific project and your personal development style.