Preparing for WWDC
No, I don’t mean packing.
I’m probably not going to WWDC this year, and that’s fine. For many iOS developers, the opportunity to mix and mingle and learn directly from Apple staff is a great time. I thoroughly enjoyed going to WWDC in 2016. I don’t plan to go back this year, preferring to help my team plan their remote participation. Since Apple does a great job broadcasting the sessions live and also on delay, the stress about missing out is greatly reduced. This is especially awesome since it’s so difficult to get a hard ticket to the event.
But I definitely am preparing myself for WWDC in any case, and if you’re a developer for Apple platforms, you should prepare also. Here’s a list of what I’m doing to get ready:
Keep up with the betas
I’m making sure that I have a phone and a computer running the latest iOS and macOS betas. At this point during the release cycle, even betas tend to be mostly stable. I don’t want to be caught too far behind the state of the art when the releases actually land on the first day of WWDC, so I want to maximize my time with the final “stable” versions of iOS and macOS before the new versions.
Prepare a device for the day one releases
Even though I consider the current iOS and macOS betas stable, I don’t hold the same view for the day one WWDC versions. I’ve set aside an iOS device, cleaned it off, and have it ready to start work on the newest version of iOS when WWDC actually lands. I want to have some insight into the new beta in June, but I really can’t afford to put my primary phone at risk.
Update all my code to the latest Swift
I usually keep all of my code fairly well up to date, and this is just a final pass. Even though the interim releases of iOS and macOS have been small, Swift is another thing entirely. We’ve seen some pretty cool features in the interim Swift releases (synthesized Equatable & Hashable, conditional conformance), and the less I’m fighting the inevitable upgrade path with the next Xcode beta, the better.
Finish building 11.x prototypes
There are still a few small 11.x features I haven’t really experimented enough with because there was no obvious benefit. I need to wrap these up so that there are no dead technology zones in my head. No matter what Apple releases for the next revision, I want to make sure I’ve handled all of the things I currently need to be aware of.
Not speculating
The last thing I’ll do? Not speculate on what Apple will offer us as developers. I don’t know when I’ve seen the really cool stuff coming in advance, and it’s pretty much a waste of time to try. I’d rather spend my time focusing on what I have now, and be ready for what is when it arrives, than try to be clever and play guessing games. I’m not a technology pundit, I’m a programmer. Programmers deal in facts. (Well, facts as far as the compiler is concerned, but that’s another topic.)
TL;DR
The core of all of this activity is that I’m preparing by clearing my technology backlog so that I can be sure that I’m mentally prepared for all of the opportunities that will arise from WWDC this year. Are you ready?
