



Now both Xojo and LiveCode offer free versions but if you want to compile anything, you’ll need to buy a license. Since you can mix Swift and Objective-C in the same project, you can update existing OS X and iOS programs using Swift even if they were originally written in Objective-C. Many older OS X and iOS programs are still written in Objective-C, but in the long run, you’ll be much better off learning Swift and taking a little time to understand Objective-C. If you’re going to use Xcode, learn Swift and forget about Objective-C. Best of all, Apple has basically dumped Objective-C and turned their attention to a much friendlier language called Swift. It’s free, it’s powerful, and it’s guaranteed to always be up to date so you can take advantage of Apple’s latest technology whether it’s ResearchKit (for collecting medical data), HomeKit (for home automation), CarPlay (for in-dash entertainment), or Apple Watch (for wearable computers). If you want to develop OS X or iOS programs, Xcode has many advantages. It’s because they’re not as well known since they come from independent companies and not from some behemoth like Apple or Microsoft. If you haven’t heard of Xojo or LiveCode, it’s not because they’re not good. Three popular programming tools are Xcode, Xojo, and LiveCode.
