The Biggest Apple Hit You've Never Heard Of
Even some of the most diehard Apple fanatics missed one of the company’s biggest rollouts. About a year ago, Apple launched a new computer language, Swift, that is rapidly becoming one of the most popular software languages among programmers, according to Bloomberg.
In rankings of programming languages by developer industry analysts at a firm called RedMonk, Swift placed 22nd early this year, up from 68th in the third quarter of last year.
Apple’s new language now finds itself just one spot behind Coffeescript and one spot ahead of Lua, which might not mean much to you but apparently has developers quite excited.
“The growth that Swift experienced is essentially unprecedented in the history of these rankings,” the RedMonk analysis explains.
Previously, Apple developers could only use Objective C, a language built in the 1980s. Responding to complaints that the language was old fashioned and slow, Apple unveiled Swift, which it had been working on since 2010. Developers have responded to Swift’s safety, modernity and "expressiveness," meaning fewer lines of code are required to get the computer to do specific things.
The ride-hailing service Lyft reportedly rewrote its entire app about six months ago using Swift after finding that updates to the code took much less time. Another early user of the code is SlideShare, a document-sharing service owned by LinkedIn.
Still, as Swift is still undergoing rapid evolution, most developers are choosing to wait before adopting it. As of now, Objective C is still Apple developer’s number one choice, but a fully developed Swift could swiftly change that.
Chart of the Day: Long Way to Go on Coronavirus Testing
The White House on Friday unveiled plans for a new effort to ramp up testing for Covid-19, which experts say is an essential part of limiting the spread of the virus. This chart from Vox gives a sense of just how far the U.S. has to go to catch up to other countries that are dealing with the pandemic, including South Korea, the leading virus screener with 3,692 tests per million people. The U.S., by comparison, has done about 23 tests per million people as of March 12.
After Spending $2 Billion, Air Force Bails Out on Planned Upgrades of B-2 Bombers
The Air Force has scrapped a planned upgrade of its B-2 stealth bomber fleet — even after spending $2 billion on the effort — because defense contractor Northrup Grumman didn’t have the necessary software expertise to complete the project on time and on budget, Bloomberg’s Anthony Capaccio reports, citing the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer.
Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters that the nearly $2 billion that had already been spent on the program wasn’t wasted because “we are still going to get upgraded electronic displays.”
Big Hurdle for Sanders’ Plan to Cancel Student Debt
Bernie Sanders wants to eliminate $1.6 trillion in student debt, to be paid for by a tax on financial transactions, but doing so won’t be easy, says Josh Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal.
The main problem for Sanders is that most Americans don’t support the plan, with 57% of respondents in a poll last fall saying they oppose the idea of canceling all student debt. And the politics are particularly thorny for Sanders as he prepares for a likely general election run, Mitchell says: “Among the strongest opponents are groups Democrats hope to peel away from President Trump: Rust Belt voters, independents, whites, men and voters in rural areas.”
Number of the Day: $7 Million
That’s how much Michael Bloomberg is spending per day in his pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination, according to new monthly filings with the Federal Election Commission. “In January alone, Bloomberg dropped more than $220 million on his free-spending presidential campaign,” The Hill says. “That breaks down to about $7.1 million a day, $300,000 an hour or $5,000 per minute.”