A new compiler called Silver turns Apple’s Swift into a cross-platform programming language. The compiler, currently a beta release, compiles Swift code so that it can run in .NET or Java runtimes or on OS X. However, developers who build apps with Swift will still need to use native user interface libraries for the various platforms.
RemObjects, the company that makes Silver, says that the compiler integrates with Visual Studio 2013 and 2015. It is also releasing Fire, a new integrated development environment (IDE) for OS X.
Apple released Swift in 2014 as an alternative to Objective-C for building iOS and OS X apps. The language quickly caught on in the mobile development industry and has been ascending the programming language popularity charts.
