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Here are some sample swift files to be used in the Swift for Arduino IDE.

examples

Here are some sample swift files to be used in the Swift for Arduino IDE (http://www.swiftforarduino.com).

##demos The intention is to demo some examples of how to do things.

traffic-light.swift shows traffic lights, timing and how to handle ints well note: it will give an abort warning, but that seems to be because the compiler cannot be sure that you're not doing a divide by zero in the flasher function. I haven't worked out how to avoid this but it shouldn't be a problem, just use care.

Programming the Arduino UNO with Swift For Arduino

This is an introduction to programming a Arduino UNO board with the Swift For Arduino IDE.

In the Arduino IDE, programs are structured with two main functions:

void setup(){
    
}

void loop(){
    
}

In the Swift For Arduino IDE there is no need for the setup() function, you just do your initial set-up in the first part of your program, then instead of the loop() function you use a while(true){} statement with the running program. So a program in Swift For Arduino looks like this:

// 0. Libraries
import AVR

// 1. Setup
typealias IntegerLiteralType = Pin
// Do your setup here

// 2. Main Loop
while(true) {
    // Insert code to be run in main loop here.
}

Looking at this more closely we see there are three main sections:

0. Libraries

You need to import the AVR library. AVR is the type of microcontrollers used in the Arduino UNO board. You can find our more about these here.

1. Setup

Here you'll define variables and helper functions. You have to be careful with types and type inference in Swift For Arduino because of the limitations of working with microcontrollers as opposed to a regular program in Swift.

In particular the standard library runtime is not available. This means many of the main features of Swift on platforms you are used to (Linux, server side swift, macOS, tvOS, iOS, watchOS) are not available, but many would probably not be suited to a small, highly resource constrained embedded device like Arduino Uno.

Also keep in mind that the Arduino UNO has only 2 kB of memory, so please consider this when writing your programs.

For more information on what available or not and some things to look out for, select the help from the menu → Help/Swift For Arduino Help. Also check the AVRPlayground for a complete view of the API.

2. Main Loop

This is where you write the code that will run continuously on the Arduino. As it can run hundreds of times a second, it is usually a good idea to put in some delays in there.

For an example of a program, go on to the first example: Blink

community's Issues

Any downloadable IDE

Hi, I saw your presentation in skills matter website. I saw an ide that connects arduino. Any url to download that ide?

AVR Swift library usage in Xcode

Hello, I recently purchased a copy of Swift For Arduino and when I opened the IDE, I immediately noticed that there is no autocomplete support. Is there any way to use Xcode with the AVR library and create a custom build system that utilizes your own build process?

SD card library

Another great addition to the library would be to write a library for some of the common Arduino shields to access an SD card.

An example is the Arduino Ethernet shield and (from memory) some of the wireless shields.

It is a little more complex because it would also involve some kind of file access.

SD cards on Arduino are accessed via their native SPI interface, so you'll need to understand the AVR module functions for this.

As always, keep it minimal, lean and mean, you'll only be able to use the S4A style Swift so no structs, enums or classes. If the language gives serious problems, drop me a line and I'll give advice how to work around most issues or, in extremis, try to patch the language to resolve the issue you're experiencing.

Liqiud crytal display library missing

await delay?

while(true){
await delay(400)
}

?

Ethernet shield library

Anyone who wants to start contributing, a really great addition to the library would be to write a library for the Arduino Ethernet shield, plus related libraries for a tcp stack.

As always, keep it minimal, lean and mean, you'll only be able to use the S4A style Swift so no structs, enums or classes. If the language gives serious problems, drop me a line and I'll give advice how to work around most issues or, in extremis, try to patch the language to resolve the issue you're experiencing.

The arduino ethernet shield uses SPI to communicate so you'll need to familiarise yourself with the SPI functions from the AVR module.

Is it possible to support ESP32/8266 or RP2040?

Both of these chips cost way less than Arduino. And many people are using them. So it's good if you can support ESP32/8266 or RP2040.

S4A overwrites external changes

I have been using an external editor to work on my project, partly because of familiarity/muscle-memory, partly performance of S4A with larger files. I'm still building in S4A of course, and currently I have to quit/reload the app whenever I do a build because whenever I run a build, S4A overwrites any changes I make externally while S4A is running. In other words, whatever version it cached on load gets written back to the file.

It would be nice if it would do the reverse - load any external changes on Build.