Swift Insights: Weekly Articles on iOS Development

A reserved word is a term designated by the programming language that cannot be used as an identifier. This restriction is a syntactic rule that helps prevent conflicts and ambiguities in the code.

As detailed in Swift Lexical Structure, these reserved words are integral to the language’s syntax and functionality. For convenience, all lists of reserved words provided below are arranged alphabetically, facilitating quick and easy reference.

Objective-C, developed in the early 1980s, has long been the backbone of iOS and macOS development. Its deep integration with Apple’s ecosystem made it a preferred choice for developers working on these platforms for decades. However, with the introduction of Swift in 2014, Apple provided a modern alternative that addresses many of the limitations and complexities of Objective-C.

Swift is Apple’s modern, open-source programming language, introduced at Apple’s 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Designed to be the successor to Objective-C, Swift is used for developing applications across all of Apple’s platforms, including iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.