The Swift Edge: Why We Chose Swift to Power the Next Generation of Edge Computing
The Swift Edge: Why We Chose Swift to Power the Next Generation of Edge Computing
The world of edge computing is undergoing a seismic shift. From intelligent factories and autonomous vehicles to sophisticated drones and orbital satellites, the demand for powerful, responsive, and reliable edge software has never been greater. Yet, developing for the edge remains a fragmented and often frustrating experience. Developers wade through a bewildering array of languages, tools, and configurations, often taking 20-30 steps just to get a simple program running.
At Edge, we believe that taming this complexity starts with a foundational decision: the choice of programming language. That's why, after careful consideration and drawing inspiration from transformative shifts in mobile and game development, we've chosen Swift as the cornerstone of the Edge OS and Software Development Stack.
This post isn't just about a language choice; it's about a vision for a unified, productive, and powerful future for edge development.
The Allure of Swift: Performance, Determinism, and a Unified Ecosystem
Our decision to build Edge around Swift stems from its unique combination of modern features, performance characteristics, and ecosystem potential. We strongly believe that modern edge development is overly fragmented. Swift offers a path to consolidation and simplification.
Performance and Determinism: The Non-Negotiables for Edge
Swift is not just fast; it's predictably fast. Critically, Swift uses Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) for memory management, not a garbage collector (GC). For systems controlling physical hardware – be it a robot's actuator or a drone's motor – non-deterministic pauses caused by GC cycles are unacceptable. As many industry leaders at companies like Tesla, Toyota, Boston Dynamics, and Locus Robotics have told us, "garbage collected languages are dead on arrival" for production systems controlling actuators or dangerous equipment. ARC ensures that objects are deallocated as soon as their reference count hits zero, providing the deterministic performance essential for real-time edge applications.
Breaking Free from the "Prototype in Python, Rewrite in C++" Trap
A common, yet wildly inefficient, pattern in robotics and edge development is to prototype in a language like Python for its ease of use, only to then embark on a costly and time-consuming rewrite in C++ to achieve production-level performance. This "insane" duplication of effort highlights a critical gap. Swift bridges this gap by being both expressive and easy to prototype with, while offering the raw performance needed for demanding production workloads from day one.
Forging a Unified Ecosystem
A single, dominant language fosters a vibrant and cohesive community. With Swift at the center, documentation becomes more streamlined, libraries become more interoperable, and developers can share knowledge and solutions more effectively. No more stitching together disparate blog posts and packages written in a half-dozen different languages to solve a single problem.
Seamless C/C++ Interoperability: The Essential "Escape Hatch"
While we champion Swift, we recognize the vast landscape of existing C and C++ libraries, especially in embedded systems. Swift's robust interoperability with C and C++ is a crucial feature. It allows developers to leverage these existing, battle-tested system libraries without adding undue complexity or resorting to cumbersome Foreign Function Interfaces (FFIs) that can negate the benefits of a modern language.
Why Not Other Languages? A Deliberate Choice
Our selection of Swift wasn't made in a vacuum. We carefully evaluated other popular and promising languages, but each presented challenges that made them less suitable for our overarching vision for Edge.
Why Not Rust?
Rust is a phenomenal language with strong safety guarantees, an excellent package manager, and a passionate community. However, we found its syntax can be cumbersome, potentially slowing development velocity. More critically, Rust's notoriously slow compile times can be a significant bottleneck in the iterative development cycles common in edge computing. While Rust's safety is a huge plus, the practical need to use unsafe code blocks when interfacing with existing C/C++ system libraries can complicate matters and, in some ways, negate one of its primary advantages. FFI work in Rust can be particularly challenging.
Why Not C++?
C++ is the incumbent in many performance-critical systems. However, as noted, many teams prototype elsewhere before committing to C++. If C++ were truly a highly productive language for starting projects, this wouldn't be the case. In an era where modern languages offer both safety and efficiency, C++ can feel overly complex and less productive for rapid development. That said, Swift's excellent C++ interoperability means the vast ecosystem of C++ libraries remains accessible when needed.
Why Not Zig?
Zig is an interesting language with a clear focus on simplicity and control. We are quite fond of it. However, it is still very early in its development and not yet stable enough for a mission-critical platform like Edge. Its focus on manual memory management, while offering fine-grained control, also means it doesn't provide the inherent memory safety that Swift's ARC offers by default.
Why Not Python?
Python is incredibly popular for prototyping, machine learning, and scripting due to its simplicity. However, it's rarely the language of choice for production edge systems that directly control hardware. Its performance limitations, lack of an explicit static type system by default, and reliance on a garbage collector make it non-deterministic and unsuitable for real-time control. Chris Lattner, Swift's creator, is now working on Mojo to address these Python limitations, which is exciting, but Mojo is brand new and will take years to mature. It took Swift and Rust nearly a decade to stabilize core features like concurrency, and Mojo will likely face similar maturation cycles.
Why Not Java or Kotlin?
Like Python, Java and Kotlin rely on garbage collection, making them non-starters for many deterministic edge applications. Furthermore, their interoperability story with C libraries, while improving (e.g., Java's Project Panama FFI), is not as mature or seamless as Swift's, especially in the context of embedded systems where direct hardware interaction is paramount.
Swift: The Engine Driving the Edge Vision
Choosing Swift isn't just about the language itself; it's about what it enables for the broader Edge ecosystem.
EdgeOS, Tailored by Swift
With Swift as the primary development language, EdgeOS – our new embedded Linux distribution – can be more opinionated and optimized. It allows us to pre-configure essential Swift-friendly tools and libraries (like lldb-server for remote debugging, BlueZ for Bluetooth, and "Swiftly" for toolchain management), creating an out-of-the-box experience akin to iOS or Android development.
A Cohesive Edge Framework
The Edge Framework, with its APIs for networking (including Disruption Tolerant Networking and Multipath RTP), physics, machine learning, and vision, will be designed with Swift-first ergonomics. This consistency simplifies development and makes the entire stack more approachable. Even our EdgeUI, a SwiftUI-inspired cross-platform UI library, will leverage Swift to allow developers to build companion apps for multiple targets (Linux, macOS, iOS, VisionOS, Android, Web, Windows) from a single codebase.
The Future is Unified, The Future is Swift on Edge
Our vision is clear: to dramatically simplify and unify the world of edge development. We believe that by standardizing on Swift, supported by a purpose-built OS and a comprehensive framework, we can unlock unprecedented productivity and innovation.
Developers should be able to plug in an edge device, write Swift code, and press Command+R to see their creation come to life, with debugging and deployment seamlessly handled. It's about empowering you to focus on building groundbreaking logic, not wrestling with fragmented tools and reinventing the wheel.
Edge, powered by Swift, is coming later this year. We can't wait to see what you'll build.