Remember that Xcode has been around for close to two decades. Most experienced developers don't use or know about the more advanced features of Apple's IDE.

It is true that Xcode can be a bit intimidating when you launch it for the first time. Click Downloads from the menu and sign in with your Apple developer account.Ĭlick More in the top right and search for command line tools. Visit Apple's developer website and click Develop at the top. It is also possible to download the command line tools from Apple's developer website. Xcode prompts you to install the command line tools the first time you launch Xcode. How do you install Xcode's command line tools? You can find more information on the Swift website. The tools you need to use Swift are also available on Linux and Windows. At the time of writing, Xcode requires a Mac running macOS 10.15.4 or later.ĭoes this mean you need to have a Mac to build a Swift application? No. If you want to publish an application on Apple's App Store, you need to enroll in the Apple Developer Program, which starts at $99 per year. Option 2: You can also download Xcode from Apple's developer website if you have a developer account. Option 1: Launch the App Store application on your Mac, sign in with your Apple ID, and download the latest version of Xcode.

Xcode is free to download if you have an Apple ID. Apple's IDE has been around for almost two decades and has improved substantially over the years. Xcode has support for many popular programming languages, including Swift, C, C++, and Objective-C. This simply means that Xcode provides you with the tools to create software that runs on Apple's platforms, iOS (and iPadOS), tvOS, macOS, and watchOS. Xcode is Apple's IDE or integrated development environment. In this post, I answer a handful of common questions about Apple's IDE. Developers new to Apple's platforms are often confused by Xcode.

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