Barcode Scanning SDK Now Supports Mobile Development Programming Language

A barcode scanning software provider announced this past week that it has upgraded its software development kit to support a new programming language that targets a specific section of the mobile ecosystem.

Manatee Works has developed barcode scanning software and algorithms for several years, and its latest announcement revealed that it will now support Apple (News - Alert)'s Swift programming language within its SDK. The company announcement suggests that Apple developers will now have access to barcode scanning technology that they can harness with iOS8 and OS X Yosemite apps developed with Swift (News - Alert). Jim Stein, founder and CEO of Manatee Works, said his company's decision to support Swift was made to extend the reach and ease-of-use of Manatee's development kit.

"Our goal is to make the Manatee Works Barcode Scanner SDK the most widely-available and easiest-to-use SDK possible," Stein said.

"Our SDK will allow [Swift developers] to easily integrate a customizable, hi-tech barcode scanner capable of decoding numerous 1D and 2D symbologies including PDF417, DotCode, and QR codes into their applications," he continued. The announcement also pointed to developers now being able to use Manatee to create track-and-trace, anti-counterfitting, workflow management, and other mobile application products.

This announcement comes not long after Manatee formally announced its support of Google (News - Alert) Glass. That platform, it indicated, could be perfect for manufacturing situations where workers need to have their hands free to complete various work-related tasks. It can also apply to workers that complete package handling, personnel tracking, and distribution tasks in their workdays.

Manatee's support of Swift could also help bring Manatee further into businesses with the expanding use of mobile phones for various small business tasks. Businesses are turning to their smartphones for call center capabilities, payment options, and workflow, and the addition of barcode scanning could help them process materials they regularly receive or ship. Small businesses may also be able to benefit from barcode reading if they sell many products that are labeled with barcodes to allow for better tracking and payment security. Rather than a store labeling its for-sale goods with a price gun, employees can turn to barcodes that refer to lists of information about each product that internal computer systems can track. Barcode scanning with user smartphones can eliminate the need for scanning hardware in addition to specialized software just to complete the simple task of scanning and processing items.