Xcode 16 beta Launched

It’s WWDC24 this week and with it, lots of new updates to download and become familiar with.

Xcode 16 has launched in beta and can be downloaded from the Apple Developer website. As with previous Xcode updates, this latest version adds even more features to help you build apps. These include the following:

Predictive Code Completion

A new coding model has been added that is trained for Swift and Apple SDKs. It runs locally on your Mac, allowing it to work while you are offline. As you begin writing code, it predicts what you need and pre-populates the rest of the line, which can then be used and accepted. This dramatically speeds up coding by allowing you to offload some of your work.

Swift Assist

Like predictive code completion, Swift Assist is another helper tool trained on the latest SDKs and Swift language. Rather than just predicting the code you might want, you can ask it questions, and it will generate code for you. The example below has a small field at the bottom left of the screen where the user asks it to “create a list of classic Macs with name and description”. All of the code in the screenshot is generated, allowing you to get a head start and focus on the real problems you are solving.

Swift Testing

The new Swift Testing framework that allows you to run inline tests on your code was announced. This one is a particularly large topic, so I’ll address it in another post.

Overall, this is a decent set of updates. Although I have only mentioned a few of them, I’m sure there is more to find within the latest version. Please note that Swift Assist is not yet available in the beta but will be coming in the fall.