Swift web hybrid template
Version 2.0.0
What is this?
This is a skeleton of an application written in the Swift programming language that uses HTML/CSS/JS for its view layer. It has the ability to communicate between JavaScript and native Swift code.
Why?
I'm a front end web developer, but I also like native code. I really like building UI in what I'm comfortable with, but realize that JavaScript won't be able to do everything for me. By combining both Swift, and front end web code, I can write what I'm comfortable with, but also have the ability to call to native, more powerful functions when I need some more heavy lifting done.
This has been done through various methods such as NW.js, and electron. Both of these allow you to perform native functionality to some extent, but also come at a price. Embedded V8 solutions like the two previously mentioned are extremely large in file size. This skeleton comes in at around 6.2MB compiled, whereas NW.js and electron can be several hundred for a simple app. I still think NW.js and electron have a lot to offer, and most certainly make it easier for someone purely with web experience to do more, but this may be a better solution for you. It should also be noted that using this skeleton creates an OS X only application, whereas the other two can be used to create a multi-platform application.
changes in version 2.0.0
Updated to Swift 3