I have a Mini of the same generation and it runs Monterey very well via OpenCore Legacy Patcher - https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/. Worth considering if you haven't looked at it before.

I did not know this existed. Definitely giving it a shot.

I can highly recommend Paul Hudson's courses, eg, Hacking with macOS -https://www.hackingwithswift.com/store/hacking-with-macos. They are heavily Swift-focused by very good.

Thanks MJ