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IBM Swift Sandbox lets you test Apple's newly open-source programming language in your browser

Just hours after Apple made its Swift programming language open source, IBM has introduced a new, simple, and free browser-based way for developers to get started writing code.

Created at IBM's Mobile Innovation Lab in Austin, the new IBM Swift Sandbox tool is now available to test in beta form on the developerWorks website. Swift Sandbox allows developers to write Swift code and execute it in a server environment on top of Linux.

John Petitto, an IBM Swift developer, detailed the new tool on Friday in a post to Big Blue's developer website. The sandbox runs on IBM Cloud in a Docker container, and allows testers to use both the latest versions of Swift and its standard library.

Petitto teased that Swift Sandbox is just the beginning from IBM, which has openly embraced Apple's programming language for iOS and OS X. Now that it's open source, Petitto said that the Swift Sandbox tool "barely scratches the surface of what's possible."

In an interview this week, Apple senior Software VP Craig Federighi revealed that IBM has been a "major source" of feedback on Swift. The Armonk, New York-based company has an ongoing partnership to develop enterprise-focused mobile apps on iOS via Swift.