Sparrow 2.0

Daniel Sperl on June 1, 2013

A few weeks ago, I presented to you the release candidate of an all-new version of Sparrow, containing lots of new features and a completely revised architecture.

I’m really excited to tell you that the release candidate is now followed by the official release! During the last weeks, I gathered a lot of feedback about the new version, polished some parts here and there - and now, I’m finally removing the training wheels. Behold: we’re now officially launching Sparrow two point zero!

Updates

I already gave you a detailed tour of the new features in the release candidate post I wrote a while ago; but just to be sure, I’d like to summarize the most important changes again:

All new architecture, based on OpenGL ES 2 and iOS 5.
Using pure ARC throughout the framework
Up to two times the performance of the old version
Block-based event listeners and tween callbacks
Asynchronous texture loading (from local file or remote server)
Powerful new Tween functionality
Super simple UIKit Integration
Skewing of Display Objects
Auto-scaling of text
Much faster Bitmap-Font rendering
Statistics display showing current FPS and number of draw calls

I think that’s well worth a 2.0 release, don’t you think? Many workflows that were previously a little difficult to pull off are now very easy to achieve.

Sparrow 2.0 Manual

During the last days, I had a look at every single page in the Sparrow Wiki and gave the manual a complete overhaul. Not only did I update it with all the new information, I also extended some of the existing descriptions to make them easier to follow.

Here is a list of documents that will be especially interesting for Sparrow 2.0 users - be sure to check them out!

Sparrow 2.0 FAQ - a quick-start in Sparrow 2.0
Enhanced Events - hints about how to use block-based events
The Scaffold Project - description of the updated (and much simplified) scaffold project
Adding UIKit Elements - shows you how easy it is to add UIKit content on top of the new Sparrow version
Performance Optimization - a must-read even for experienced Sparrow developers!
Custom Display Objects - shows you how to make use of raw OpenGL rendering

Furthermore, I updated the list of extensions so that it distinguishes between v1 and v2 extensions; and while I was at it, I also upgraded the Particle System and some other extensions for the new version.

That’s it!

I hope you are as pleased with this new version as I am! I put a lot of effort into this new release and I believe it provides a very good basis for what’s to come in the future. Our bird is airborne again!

Don’t forget to send some greetings to the Sparrow in the comments below.
Next up: Starling 1.4 - stay tuned!