In order to learn Swift you will need XCode 6. Bizarrely, in order to get the beta of XCode 6 you have to pay $99 each year to join Apple’s Developer Program. This is all the more bizarre since XCode 5 is available free. It seems Apple only charges for the pre-release software, not for the finished product. So if you want it now with bugs you pay. If you are prepared to wait until the bugs are ironed out, you get it for free.
I wouldn’t normally be bothered about getting early access to XCode. However, as this IDE is the only way you can get access to the new programming language, Swift, you either stump up the cash now or you wait until later. I have no idea why Apple is putting barriers in the way of would-be Swift programmers. I would have thought getting as many early adopters as possible to use this language would have been entirely in the company’s best interests.
Oh well, I’m not that desperate. I’ll wait.
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