XCode has a wide variety of shortcut and handy features that are often overlooked. Especially if you are an new developer, or independent developer you usually either accidentally discover these nuggets, or never know they are there. Lets look at the top 5 tips for XCode productivity, for both Swift and Objective-C development.

XCode Tip 1: Easily comment out code

Use Command + / on any lines of code you have highlighted and it will comment them all out, or uncomment them if they are commented. This saves heaps of time if usually you use block comments /* */ manually around your code, or use the arrow keys and add comments line by line.

XCode Tip 2: Easily find a file

Have you started or worked on a XCode project that eventually has 50+ code files and you have to manually find them? This can be time consuming, especially when you know the file name but not where it is.

XCode Tip 3: Easily navigate a class

I’m sure all of us at some point has written a class of code – and it has ended up with 20 functions in it, countless variables and other bits of code. Then you come back to edit a function and mindlessly scroll through your code to find it, if only there was an easier way

Well you can easily find a function or variable in a class as follows. In the code editor select the drop down menu to the right of the current class you are editing. Then you can easily find what you are looking for. Also if you start typing with the drop down it will filter the list, neat!

XCode Tip 4: Tabs, Tabs, Tabs!

You can open up tabs to view different code classes simply with ⌘ + T. If you are always changing between two or three files this is a lifesaver!

XCode Tip 5: Change the color theme!

Before I changed to a black XCode theme I found long coding sessions would strain my eyes. Simply by going XCode -> Preferences -> Fonts & Colors. You can change XCode to a dark theme, increase font sizes, or even customize every option to your liking!

Do you have any productivity tips you use yourself? Comment them below to share with the Seemu Apps community!