Creating a UICollectionView programmatically

Header file:--

@interface ViewController : UIViewController<UICollectionViewDataSource,UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout>
{
    UICollectionView *_collectionView;
}

Implementation File:--

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
     [super viewDidLoad];
     self.view = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];

     UICollectionViewFlowLayout *layout=[[UICollectionViewFlowLayout alloc] init];
    _collectionView=[[UICollectionView alloc] initWithFrame:self.view.frame collectionViewLayout:layout];
    [_collectionView setDataSource:self];
    [_collectionView setDelegate:self];

    [_collectionView registerClass:[UICollectionViewCell class] forCellWithReuseIdentifier:@"cellIdentifier"];
    [_collectionView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor redColor]];

    [self.view addSubview:_collectionView];


    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
}

- (NSInteger)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView numberOfItemsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return 15;
}

// The cell that is returned must be retrieved from a call to -dequeueReusableCellWithReuseIdentifier:forIndexPath:
- (UICollectionViewCell *)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView cellForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    UICollectionViewCell *cell=[collectionView dequeueReusableCellWithReuseIdentifier:@"cellIdentifier" forIndexPath:indexPath];

    cell.backgroundColor=[UIColor greenColor];
    return cell;
}

- (CGSize)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView layout:(UICollectionViewLayout*)collectionViewLayout sizeForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    return CGSizeMake(50, 50);
}

Output---

For swift4 user:--

class TwoViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDataSource, UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout, UICollectionViewDelegate {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        self.collectionView = UICollectionView(frame: self.view.bounds, collectionViewLayout: flowLayout)
        collectionView.register(UICollectionViewCell.self, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell")
        collectionView.delegate = self
        collectionView.dataSource = self
        collectionView.backgroundColor = UIColor.cyan
        self.view.addSubview(collectionView)
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 20
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
       var cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell", for: indexPath as IndexPath)

       cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.green
       return cell
    }

    func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, sizeForItemAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGSize {
        return CGSize(width: 50, height: 50)
    }

    func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, insetForSectionAtIndex section: Int) -> UIEdgeInsets {
        return UIEdgeInsets(top: 5, left: 5, bottom: 5, right: 5)
    }
}

For Swift 2.0

Instead of implementing the methods that are required to draw the CollectionViewCells:

func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, sizeForItemAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGSize
    {
        return CGSizeMake(50, 50);
    }

    func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, insetForSectionAtIndex section: Int) -> UIEdgeInsets
    {
        return UIEdgeInsetsMake(5, 5, 5, 5); //top,left,bottom,right
    }

Use UICollectionViewFlowLayout

func createCollectionView() {
    let flowLayout = UICollectionViewFlowLayout()

    // Now setup the flowLayout required for drawing the cells
    let space = 5.0 as CGFloat

    // Set view cell size
    flowLayout.itemSize = CGSizeMake(50, 50)

    // Set left and right margins
    flowLayout.minimumInteritemSpacing = space

    // Set top and bottom margins
    flowLayout.minimumLineSpacing = space

    // Finally create the CollectionView
    let collectionView = UICollectionView(frame: CGRectMake(10, 10, 300, 400), collectionViewLayout: flowLayout)

    // Then setup delegates, background color etc.
    collectionView?.dataSource = self
    collectionView?.delegate = self
    collectionView?.registerClass(UICollectionViewCell.self, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "cellID")
    collectionView?.backgroundColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
    self.view.addSubview(collectionView!)
}

Then implement the UICollectionViewDataSource methods as required:

func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 20;
    }
func collectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
    var cell:UICollectionViewCell=collectionView.dequeueReusableCellWithReuseIdentifier("collectionCell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as UICollectionViewCell;
    cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor();
    return cell;
}
func numberOfSectionsInCollectionView(collectionView: UICollectionView) -> Int {
    // #warning Incomplete implementation, return the number of sections
    return 1
}

Swift 3

class TwoViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDataSource, UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout, UICollectionViewDelegate {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        let flowLayout = UICollectionViewFlowLayout()

        let collectionView = UICollectionView(frame: self.view.bounds, collectionViewLayout: flowLayout)
        collectionView.register(UICollectionViewCell.self, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell")
        collectionView.delegate = self
        collectionView.dataSource = self
        collectionView.backgroundColor = UIColor.cyan

        self.view.addSubview(collectionView)
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int
    {
        return 20
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell
    {
        let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell", for: indexPath as IndexPath)

        cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.green
        return cell
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, sizeForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGSize
    {
        return CGSize(width: 50, height: 50)
    }

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, insetForSectionAt section: Int) -> UIEdgeInsets
    {
        return UIEdgeInsets(top: 5, left: 5, bottom: 5, right: 5)
    }

}