The Swift Progamming Language...

[SysAdmin]

My Objective C programming was never great, I can get by, but....

I'm interested in giving Swift a go.  Apple obviously didn't create the language from scratch, does anyone know the base language Apple used?

Unicorn tear drops mixed with pixie dust then wait 24 hours, Swift is born!

[SysAdmin]

Swift Playgroud reminds me of Easy AMOS & AMOS Pro.

[SysAdmin]

I'm wondering if Swift was developed to make Apps harder to port from iPad/iPhone to other platforms? It's up to the developer what they use of course but new developers that only learn and develop in Swift are locked into Apple's ecosystem right?