Book excerpt: Summary Hello Swift! is a how-to guide to programming iOS Apps with the Swift language, written from a kid's perspective. This approachable, well-illustrated, step-by-step guide takes you from beginning programming concepts all the way through developing complete apps. (Adults will like it too!) Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology It's fun to play games and explore new things on your iPhone. How amazing would it be to create your own apps? With a little practice, you can! Apple's Swift language, along with special coding playgrounds and an easy-to-use programming environment, make it easier than ever. Take it from author Tanmay Bakshi, who started programming when he was just five years old. About the Book His book, Hello Swift! iOS app programming for kids and other beginners, teaches you how to write apps for iPhones and iOS devices step by step, starting with your first line of Swift code. Packed with dozens of apps and special exercises, the book will teach you how to program by writing games, solving puzzles, and exploring what your iPhone can do. Hello Swift! gets you started. Where you go next is up to you! What's inside Crystal-clear explanations anyone can understand Kid-friendly examples, including games and puzzles Learn by doing—you'll build dozens of small apps Exercises that encourage critical thinking About the Reader Written for kids who want to learn how to program. (Psst! Adults like it, too.) About the Author Tanmay Bakshi had his first app on the iOS App Store at the age of nine. He's now the youngest IBM Champion, a Cloud Advisor, Watson Developer, TED Speaker, and Manning author! Table of Contents Get ready to build apps with Swift! Create your first app Your first real Swift code using variables I/O laboratory Computers make decisions, too! Let computers do repetitive work Knitting variables into arrays and dictionaries Reuse your code: Clean it with function detergent Reduce your code: Use less, do more with class detergent Reading and writing files Frameworks: Bookshelves of classes SpriteKit: Fun animation time Time to watch your WatchKit code Continuing your journey with Swift