Web Development in Swift (iOS/macOS): From Basics to Deployment

Swift has long ceased to be a language only for mobile applications. With the advent of the Vapor framework and server-side technologies, Apple has opened a new era — now you can write backend, API, and full-fledged web applications in the familiar and elegant Swift. This book is a practical guide to web development in Swift for iOS/macOS developers who want to expand their skills to the server side, as well as for web programmers who want to master a powerful and safe language.

The book starts from the very basics: you will learn how to set up a development environment, create your first Vapor project, and understand routing and middleware. Then you will dive into working with databases through Fluent ORM, learn how to design models, perform migrations, and complex queries. Special attention is paid to authentication and authorization — from JWT tokens to session-based authentication. You will master creating RESTful APIs, web sockets, and integration with external services via URLSession and async/await.

The culmination of the book is the full development and deployment cycle: you will create a real web application (a task management system), set up CI/CD, containerization via Docker, and deployment on VPS or Heroku. You will also learn about testing, logging, and performance monitoring.

Who this book is for:

• iOS/macOS developers looking to master server-side Swift
• Web programmers interested in alternatives to Node.js, Python, or Go
• Students and beginner developers learning Swift and web technologies
• Team leads and architects considering Swift for new projects

What you will learn:

• Basics of web application architecture in Swift and the Vapor framework
• Working with databases through Fluent ORM (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite)
• Creating RESTful APIs with automatic documentation via OpenAPI
• Authentication: JWT, sessions, OAuth 2.0, Apple Sign-In
• Templating with Leaf and creating dynamic HTML pages
• WebSocket and real-time interaction
• Testing: unit tests, integration tests, TestFlight for servers
• Deployment: Docker, VPS, Heroku, AWS EC2, Nginx and SSL configuration
• Monitoring and performance optimization

The book contains ready-made code examples, deployment checklists, and links to additional resources. You will gain not just theory, but practical experience in creating a production-ready web application in Swift.

About the author: Alexey Voronov — iOS/macOS developer with 8 years of experience, author of several open-source libraries in Swift. Has worked on server-side projects in startups and large companies. Runs a blog about modern Swift development.

Dive into the world of server-side Swift and start building reliable web applications today!