Introduction to Server-Side Swift

Server-Side Swift is an exciting new technology that allows developers to use their Swift programming skills to build server applications. Swift is a powerful and expressive language, and with the introduction of Swift on the server, developers now have the ability to write code that can run on both client devices and servers.

Using Swift to Build a Server-Side Application

To build a server-side application using Swift, you first need to choose a framework. One popular framework is Vapor, but there are many others to choose from. For this tutorial, we will use Vapor.

Step 1: Install Vapor

To install vapor, simply run the following command in your terminal:

brew install vapor

Step 2: Create a New Project

Once you have Vapor installed, you can create a new project by running the following command:

vapor new MyProject

This will create a new Vapor project called 'MyProject' in your current directory.

Step 3: Build the Project

To build the project, navigate to the project directory and run the following command:

vapor build

This will build the project and create an executable file in the '.build' directory.

Step 4: Start the Server

To start the server, run the following command:

vapor run

This will start the server and it will be ready to receive requests.

Step 5: Create a Route

To create a route, open the 'routes.swift' file in your project directory and add the following code:

import Vapor

/// Register your application's routes here.
public func routes(_ router: Router) throws {

    /// Return a simple plaintext message.
    router.get("hello") { req in
        return "Hello, world!"
    }

}


This code creates a route that responds to requests to 'http://localhost:8080/hello' and returns the message 'Hello, world!'.

Step 6: Test the Route

To test the route, open your web browser and navigate to 'http://localhost:8080/hello'. You should see the message 'Hello, world!' displayed on the page.

Conclusion

Server-Side Swift is a powerful technology that allows developers to use their Swift programming skills to build server applications. Using Vapor, developers can easily create server-side applications that are scalable, fast, and easy to maintain. By using Swift on the server, developers can also write code that can run on both client devices and servers, making development faster and more efficient.