My Swift Development Journey - Starting an Xcode Project [EN]

Date: 18/06/2025
Author: Bruno


Beginning My iOS Development Adventure

I've decided to dive into iOS development and learn Swift, Apple's powerful and intuitive programming language. My goal? To build my first app!

In this first lesson, I focused on the basics: creating and setting up a new Xcode project. Here's what I learned—and some extra fun stuff I explored along the way.



Create and Set Up a New Xcode Project

► I opened Xcode (after downloading it from the Mac App Store, of course) and clicked "Create a New Xcode Project."

  • Selected iOS > App as the template.
  • Filled in the project details:
    • Product Name: LOTRConverter (As the project it's going to be Lord of the Rings coin converter)
    • Organization Identifier: com.myusername (reverse domain style)
    • Interface: SwiftUI (I've heard it's more beginner-friendly!)
    • Language: Swift

✅ Success! My project was created.


► Then I wanted to make my app visually appealing, so I learned how to add assets.

  1. Adding App Icons

    • Went to Assets.xcassets > Right-click > New iOS App Icon.
    • Dragged and dropped appropriately sized PNGs into the slots.
    • Learned that Apple requires multiple sizes for different devices.

  2. Including Custom Images

    • Created a new Image Set in Assets.xcassets.
    • Added my image files (ensuring I had @1x, @2x, and @3x versions for retina displays).

💡 Pro Tip: Use AppIcon Generator to quickly generate all required icon sizes!



Bonus: Going Beyond the Basics

As usual, curiosity got the best of me, and I ended up exploring a few extra things:

► Connecting Xcode to GitHub (Source Control)

I wanted to back up my project, so I set up Git version control in Xcode.

  • Steps:
    • Opened Source Control Navigator in Xcode.
    • Selected "Create Git Repositories on My Mac" to initialize a local repo.
    • Then, I linked it to GitHub by:
      • Going to Xcode > Preferences > Accounts.
      • Added my GitHub account using "+" > GitHub.

► Generating a GitHub Personal Access Token

Since Xcode no longer supports password authentication, I had to create a Personal Access Token (PAT).

  • Went to GitHub > Settings > Developer Settings > Personal Access Tokens.
  • Generated a new token with repo permissions.
  • Used this token instead of a password when pushing to GitHub.

► Researching Which Files to Exclude from GitHub

I didn't want to clutter my repo with unnecessary files, so I Googled:

"Which files should I exclude when uploading an Xcode project to GitHub?"

Turns out, I should ignore:

  • DerivedData/ (build artifacts)
  • .DS_Store (macOS metadata)
  • *.xcuserstate (user-specific settings)

I added these to a .gitignore file using a Swift-specific template.



Key Takeaways

  • Xcode setup is straightforward, but asset management (icons, images) requires attention to detail.
  • GitHub integration is super useful—version control from day one is a must!
  • Personal Access Tokens (PATs) are now the way to authenticate with GitHub in Xcode.
  • .gitignore helps keep the repo clean—don't upload unnecessary files!


Next Steps

In Lesson 2, the plan is:

  • Learn SwiftUI basics (Text, Buttons, Layouts).
  • Experiment with previews and live reloading.
  • ZStack
  • VStack
  • Break down screen design
  • Lay out stacks

If you're also learning Swift, let's connect and share our progress. Hit me up on X