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iOS Swift 2.0 Basics An Introduction to Swift Programming What Is Swift?

Posted by Evan Melucci
Evan Melucci
306 Points

Can I still use this course to learn swift without a Mac?

I want to learn swift on a windows device until I can get a Mac. Is this possible?

4 Answers

Bill Merickel
Bill Merickel
11,420 Points

Actually I have a PC and the virtual machines work very well for me. You can check out this link below, however you need Windows 10 and 8+ RAM. It's works just fine for me. You'll do just fine with this.

http://learniosfree.com/vmware-tutorial

Evan Melucci
Evan Melucci
306 Points

I have Windows 10, but only 4 gigs of RAM. Will it still work?

Bill Merickel
Bill Merickel
11,420 Points

It will still work. It will just be a little slow. 8+ RAM is only recommended, not required. Give it a shot, it won't hurt.

Jason Anders
MOD
Jason Anders
Treehouse Moderator 145,860 Points
Jason Anders
Jason Anders
Treehouse Moderator 145,860 Points

Hey Evan,

You'd be able to watch the video and take notes, but running Xcode can only be done on a Mac. iOS development can only be really done on an iOS machine.

There are some 'virtual machines' I've heard about that can run a 'simulation' of Xcode, but I haven't heard anything good about them.

So, I say, sorry. Unless you're on a Mac. Learning Swift will be a bit difficult.

:dizzy:

Lee Ravenberg
Lee Ravenberg
10,018 Points
Lee Ravenberg
Lee Ravenberg
10,018 Points

It is possible to learn Swift 2 without a mac. In fact since Apple open sourced swift, efforts have been made to make a Swift development toolchain available on Linux. You can find more info about how to get started over here: https://swift.org/getting-started/#installing-swift

This is not the easiest way to learn the programming language though. All the Treehouse examples are bound to Xcode and as soon as you want to utilize the language for actual iOS or MacOS development.. you are going to want to use hardware that supports the MacOS operating system.

So how to go about this? Find a way to use a Mac, or check of your current hardware is suited to build a CustoMac.

U Belfast
U Belfast
6,439 Points
U Belfast
U Belfast
6,439 Points

Hi, I would like to add some words as well.

I tried a 'virtual machines' with MacOS on it on my windows with purpose to develop some IOS apps. However, on the one hand the VM wasn't stable and was crashed evry time I was trying either to run Xcode or start to build app. On the other hand it was not possible via the VM to connect Xcode to any apple device in order to test an app on a real device - what is strictly recomended to do.

As the result, the solution is only one! Want to build IOS app get a Mac.

Good luck