> On Apr 3, 2016, at 8:51 PM, David Waite via swift-evolution > <swift-evolution@swift.org> wrote: > > Swift also has the benefit of built-in access to C/C++ and in some > environments Objective-C code and libraries. This means it does not have to > strive to either replace or to have universal coverage of features in these > languages. > > For example, I cite pointers in Swift: while UnsafePointer exists, one would > be hard-pressed to choose to use it for code involving significant pointer > manipulation over the equivalent C code - the C code is much more terse, and > in the domain of unsafe pointer juggling the C that terseness actually can > make the code more understandable. We have the benefit of letting C be good > at what C was made for, and having that C code talk to Swift. The language > doesn't need “Pure Swift” in the way a cross-platform distribution language > like Java needs “Pure Java”.
Keep in mind that this is only (fully) true on Apple platforms; it’s my understanding that the open-source version of Swift does not include the Objective-C bridge, with its bridging headers and all that jazz. Therefore, interop with C code is probably limited to calling things from libraries. Charles
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