iOS App Development Starter Pack for Noobs

Amanda Ong
Jul 22, 2017 · 2 min read

To develop an iOS app, you code in Swift and use Xcode as the IDE. You will need a Mac because Xcode, which is the application you use to develop your app, does not run on Windows.

Some suggestions:

  1. Download Xcode.
  2. Read the Swift Documentation to learn about Swift. This helps a lot for debugging dumb errors you make in your code.
  3. Create a Stackoverflow account, so you can post coding questions when you get stuck.
  4. Create a GitHub account. GitHub is a version control system. If you are creating an app with another person, this is a great way for two people to work on the app at once. You don’t have to be sending each other the project files over email. GitHub is also great because if you completely mess up and your app no longer runs, you can revert to the previous version of the app.
  5. Watch the Standford iOS 9 App Development Lecture videos. They’re a little outdated, but they cover some important topics such as MVC (Model-View-Controller), Table Views, multithreading, and closures.
  6. Follow Youtube/online tutorials. Some Youtube iOS developers that I really like are: Lets Build That App and Jared Davidson. Ray Wenderlich is good for long, in-depth tutorials and CodeWithChris is also another popular Youtube iOS Developer.

But honestly, the starter pack is just a suggestion. The best thing you can do is just start on your app! No need to prep. Just use Google or Stackoverflow every time you’re confused. That’s what I did with my first app.

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