Swift Programming Books

Posted on December 29th, 2015

Someone emailed me recently asking for a list of Swift Programming Books. While I have not read all of these books, they have come up for me a few times, and I know they’re from good Swift developers. So here is the list (some might be affiliate links):

Beginner

The Swift Programming Language – FREE by Apple. I have read the first version, and it’s honestly probably all you need to get started with Swift.

Swift Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide – $17.27 by @matthewDmathias & @nerdyjkg. This book just came out, so I haven’t looked at it, but I’ve read other Big Nerd Ranch Books, and they’re amazing. That’s how I first learned Objective-C. So highly recommend it!

A Swift Kickstart – $29.99 by @dimsumthinking. A deeper exploration of how to think in Swift.
Your First Swift App – $19.99 by @ashfurrow. Haven’t looked at it at all, but love Ash’s talks.

Swift Apprentice – $54 by the @rwenderlich team. Haven’t looked through it, but if you like Ray Wenderlich tutorials, this should be a good fit.

Beginning iOS 9 Programming with Swift – $39 by the @AppCodaMobile team. Just heard about it after posting this article on Twitter. But App Coda publishes lots of tutorials if you’d like a sampling.

iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide – $29.10 by Christian Keur & @AaronHillegass. Apparently there’s a new book and it’s in Swift! I did read part of the Objective-C one, and it was pretty good, although I ended up using other tutorials instead.

Advanced

Functional Swift – $22.99 by @chriseidhof, @floriankugler, & @wouterswierstra. MUST READ!!!!

Swift Developer’s Cookbook – $25.59 by @ericasadun. Haven’t looked into this one, but looks super useful. Erica is a well-published author.

Advanced Swift (early release, not finished yet) – $39 by @chriseidhof & @AirspeedSwift. Haven’t looked into yet, but you’re going to be very challenged!

Swift High Performance – $26.59 by @KostiaKoval. Haven’t had time to read it, but the reviews are great!

Pro Design Patterns in Swift – $34.99 by Adam Freeman. Someone pointed it out on Twitter. Note that the author is well-published in many programming languages, so he doesn’t sound like specifically a Swift expert (see book reviews).

Specialized

Playground Secrets and Power Tips – $9.99 by @ericasadun. I don’t think there’s anyone else who’s as big of an expert on Playgrounds as @ericasadun outside of Apple. Seriously advanced sorcery here.

Swift Algorithms & Data Structures – $18.95 by @waynewbishop. Great reference book for various popular algorithms and data structures in Swift! Note: I wrote the foreword 🙂

Core Data – $35.10 by @floriankugler & @danielboedewadt. Advanced Core Data in Swift. Good review here.

Swift Translation Guide for Objective-C Users: Develop and Design – $13.49 by @mauricerkelly. Recommended on Twitter.

Parsing JSON in Swift – $19.00 by @jtbrown. Haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, but it does have a money back guarantee if you don’t like it.

Developing for Apple Watch, Second Edition – $15 by @SlaunchaMan. Haven’t read it, but keep in mind that it’s currently still in beta.

I’m sure I’m missing some books, so if you think of more, let me know in the comments or on twitter!

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dasdom

*shameless self promotion*: I’m writing right now a Swift book about TDD. https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/test-driven-development-swift
- Patrick Balestra
  
  You just sold another copy! Looks interesting 🙂
  - dasdom
    
    Thanks!
- Natasha Murashev
  
  Great – I’ll add it to the list!
  - dasdom
    
    Thanks! But I have to add that it’s not published yet. It is planned to be published in February.
    - Natasha Murashev
      
      Ah, didn’t see that! I’ll take it down for now since there’s no early release version, but follow up when it’s published and I’ll put it back!
      - dasdom
        
        Yes, that’s better. Thanks.
Kostiantyn Koval

Ray Wenderlich has a great collection http://www.raywenderlich.com/store .
+ Swift High Performance ☺️😇
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016BW45FQ
- Natasha Murashev
  
  Ooops! Can’t believe I forgot the Swift Apprentice. Thanks! I’ll add your book as well!
  - Kostiantyn Koval
    
    Thanks 🙂 Great books list, you have a good taste
Libor Zapletal

What’s the best book for advanced developer to learn more about best aproaches and patterns to use in exact situation. I have created some apps and I would like to improve my code. I have massive controllers, I have some manager classes for http requests/storage/core data and others but I think there should look different. So is there any book which show me how to create complex app in best way possible? Thanks
- dasdom
  
  Ash Furrow is writing that book right now: https://leanpub.com/swift_book/
- Natasha Murashev
  
  I recommend starting with Clean Code: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132350882/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0132350882&linkCode=as2&tag=natashatherobot-20&linkId=OP3ISQXS6AHAH2NX. It’s not for Swift / iOS specific, but it’s a classic and should give you a good base to start thinking about.
- Natasha Murashev
  
  For iOS, this looks promising… http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Swift-Adam-Freeman/dp/148420395X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451489813&sr=1-1&keywords=swift+patterns
  - Kevin C. Bell
    
    This is a good book, but it has not been refreshed for the latest version of Swift.
    - NatashaTheRobot
      
      Just found out that Big Nerd Ranch released a new book! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0134390733/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0134390733&linkCode=as2&tag=natashatherobot-20&linkId=FKHL76SKKKL6KISY. Still recommend the Clean Code one for good architecture though.
Christina @ Grok Swift

I just reviewed Parsing JSON in Swift. It’s solid with lots of best practices baked in. Lots to learn even if you’re already comfy with JSON: https://roadfiresoftware.com/parsing-json-in-swift/
Also iOS Apps with REST APIs (*shameless self promotion*): https://grokswift.com/book/
dasdom

The Swift Hight Performance book is right now only $5 on the packt website: https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/swift-high-performance
Josh Brown

The Big Nerd Ranch’s iOS Programming book is now in Swift, too. http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0134390733/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452022098&sr=1-1&keywords=ios+programming+the+big+nerd+ranch+guide
- NatashaTheRobot
  
  Whoa! Thanks for mentioning. Had to dig in a little to make sure it is in fact in Swift… not sure why they don’t mention it in the description.
  - Kevin C. Bell
    
    BNR has an updated iOS 5th edition for Swift AND an entirely new (1st edition) Swift programming book that replaces the former Obj-C lang book. Both just released on the 25th of December.
FlexMonkey

May I cheekily add my own book, Core Image for Swift? It’s one for the “specialised” category and looks at Apple’s Core Image framework from the very basics through to creating custom kernels with both GLSL and Metal.

https://itunes.apple.com/de/book/core-image-for-swift/id1073029980?l=en&mt=11
Jeff Kelley

Developing for Apple Watch, Second Edition is now out of beta and in production!