WWDC24: Go small with Embedded Swift | Apple
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as Apple's own explanation of why Embedded Swift exists and what it targets.
What it is
An Apple WWDC24 session introducing Embedded Swift, a subset of Swift with no runtime that targets tiny microcontrollers. It demonstrates the idea on an off-the-shelf Matter smart home device.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2024 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites xyst · 2024-06 · on “Embedded Swift [video]”
I don't see any benefit of using this over Rust, C or C++. I guess if you have been coding in swift your entire career, it's just one less language to learn if you decide to get into IoT note: even apple engineers hate Xcode, +1 for neovim ( [this video] )
Cites timsneath · 2025-02 · on “Apple is open sourcing Swift Build”
Of course! Tons of examples here: [LINK] At WWDC24, we shared a session on embedded Swift, which is available on YouTube: [this video] More documentation on embedded Swift tooling here: [LINK] (Disclosure: I work at Apple.)
Cites jitl · 2025-02 · on “Apple is open sourcing Swift Build”
Although opinions inside Apple about Swift vary, they seem to be investing in low level Swift for embedded, kernel use, and programming the “Secure Enclave” subsystem. They certainly have many opportunities to use it for headphones, AirTag, flash driver, etc, beyond the very believable but less embedded use in kernel/Secure Enclave. See also the wwdc session where they propose swift for building smart home thingies [this video]
Cites pjmlp · 2025-10 · on “Fil-C: A memory-safe C implementation”
Not for much longer, replacing it with Swift is one of the reasons why Swift Embedded subset came to be. "Why Embedded Swift" [this video]