Swift Playgrounds is just beginning

Apple made a lot of announcements recently. Something that got little attention was Swift Playgrounds for iPad. Swift Playgrounds are environments for building simple programs for children, a kindergarten version of an IDE.

I find this announcement interesting. I think that Swift Playgrounds is a first step in a revolution for coding on the Apple platform. I think that Apple is planning to make Swift Playgrounds (or something derived from it) the standard tool for developing apps.

Some of you may be thinking "Tosh! Swift Playgrounds is for children who are learning to code, not for serious developers" and you would be correct. That's what they are.

Today.

Swift Playground is, essentially, an IDE. It lets one create and run (and debug) an app. It automates these activities more than the traditional IDE, which already integrated those activities. (Hence the "I" in IDE for "integrated development environment".)

I think that Apple will expand Swift Playgrounds and make it more capable. They may create multiple layers: Swift Elementary, Swift High School, Swift University. (I'm using names from a school motif; Apple may choose different names.) Each level will be more sophisticated and more powerful than the previous, yet each level will be able to develop working apps and deploy them to Apple's App Store.

Such a plan has several ramifications.

First, Swift Playgrounds (et alia) may replace Xcode for most app developers. If one can do everything necessary to design and build an app in Swift Playgrounds, do we need Xcode?

Second, it may allow Apple to revamp its entire product line.

Once we can develop apps on an iPad, do we need the Macintosh line? Apple could easily drop the Macbook line in favor of iPads. The iPad has the same processor and can (theoretically) do anything a Macbook can do. 

Apple may also replace the iMac line with a new, very large iPad-on-a-stand. Apple could produce a 24-inch iPad, place it on a desk stand, and let users run keyboards and mice on it just like an iMac. Would it be much different from today's iPad?

Another question is: How does Apple develop new versions of its operating systems? I assume today Apple uses Mac Pros for that development work. Could Apple shift that work to super-sized iPads? The development of operating systems is possibly the most complex task for Macintosh computers. If Apple can do that work on an iPad, do they need any of the Macintosh computers?

These changes do take time. Shifting development work from Xcode to a new series of Swift schools and will take at least five years (assuming one year each to develop the additional Swift schools) and possibly longer. I'm guessing that Apple will develop all of the schools before dropping the Macintosh line, so that means that Mac computers will be with use for at least the next decade.

But it may be that Apple is planning that far ahead. It may be that Apple is planning to kill off the Macintosh computers. It may be that Apple wants its customers to use iPhones and iPads (and the Apple App Store on those devices).