Update: December 2017
Swift sandbox is going to be deprecated. I’m testing some new tools and sharing my experience in the new IBM swift tools post.
Update: September 2017
Many things were changed in the Sandbox since this post was originally created.
Some improvements in IBM Swift Sandbox:
Added possibility to choose the Swift version!
- “Users can now try out certain packages in the Sandbox, through the IBM Swift Package Catalog.”
- Better autocomplete and compilation error messages.
- The mobile experience is significantly better. Partially due to multiple bug fixes, partially due to the phone upgrade.
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Original post
Some time ago I was looking for a good Swift web interface.
Back then I discovered few similar websites but none of them touched my heart. Today I checked again and discovered a nice project from IBM – IBM Swift Sandbox It has all features that I was looking for:
- responsive design — so I can use it on my phone,
- code highlighter — to please my eyes,
- it’s fast!
- and, as a bonus, it even has an auto-completion feature.
Sometimes it is not very convenient on 4 inch iPhone screen, but it is still better than other alternatives.
IBM Swift Sandbox on iPhone IBM Swift Sandbox on iPhone Some other websites I used for comparison:
Pros:
- Relatively responsive (see “Cons”).
- The source code can be easily shared through a link.
Cons:
- Slow to compile,
- On smaller screen requires scrolling a lot.
Pros:
- Can import swift playgrounds.
- Gives the possibility to collaborate with other people (I’m not sure how useful is this feature).
Cons:
- Not responsive at all.
- Last time I opened it I was unable to get any output from it.
