Swift is open source and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. This guide covers running, debugging and building Swift in VS Code.

Install Swift

  • •macOS: install Xcode from the App Store (includes the full Swift toolchain), or the Command Line Tools.
  • •Linux: download the toolchain from swift.org/install and add it to your PATH.
  • •Windows: follow the official swift.org Windows installation guide.

Verify: swift --version

VS Code

Install the Swift extension by the Swift Server Work Group. It provides IntelliSense (via SourceKit-LSP), build tasks and LLDB debugging.

Write and run

Create main.swift:

func greet(_ name: String) -> String {
    "Hello, \(name)!"
}

print(greet("Ada"))

Run a single file:

swift main.swift

Debug it

The Swift extension uses LLDB. Set a breakpoint, press F5, and step through your code, inspecting optionals and structs as you go.

Build a package

For anything beyond one file, use Swift Package Manager:

swift package init --type executable
swift run
swift build -c release   # optimised binary in .build/release/

SwiftPM manages dependencies, builds and tests — the standard way to structure Swift apps and libraries.