Learning Swift and iOS development: A series.
Welcome to the world of programming and iOS development. Welcome to an amazing world of creativity, and passion, and imagination. Where we turn code into experiences that can delight, entertain, and change peoples lives.
A little straight talk first though. Learning to code can be tough. It is also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I taught myself to code at 30 years old, so no matter if you are old or young, you can learn to code too.
You are going to get discouraged at times. You are going to tell yourself, “I don’t have the brains for this” and you’re going to want to give up. You may run into cyber-coder bullies who belittle your coding skills and tell you that unless you have a degree in computer science, you aren’t a real programmer.
But then things will start to click. You will write some code, and it will work, and you will think to yourself, “Man, I’m awesome.”
I want to give you some advice to keep you on the straight and narrow when discouragement sets in:
1. Don’t compare yourself to other programmers. Compete against yourself. Someone will always be more skilled than you.
2. You DO belong here in the world of programming. No matter what anyone says. You have unique talents as a programmer that other programmers do not.
3. If the learning is painful and your brain is broken, just know you are growing.
Programmers can live rewarding lives. I have spent my programming career working from home. That means more time with my family, my number one priority.
Become a good programmer and you will have the chance to live whatever lifestyle you want. Whether that be a lifestyle with more personal time and freedom or whether that means receiving a big fat paycheck working for top companies — or perhaps both!
The last and most important thing I could ever tell you as you are learning how to code is this — Learn EVERY single day and do some hands-on coding EVERY single day. Your knowledge will compound and your progress will exponentially grow.
So, what are we going to cover in this series? A whole lot. Here’s a taste of what’s coming:
- Going over the basics of Swift. Covering variables, function, arrays, loops, dictionaries and all that good stuff.
- We’ll be covering UIStackViews and build out your first iOS app.
- Learn about Maps, AutoLayout, and Gesture recognizers.
- Learn about app design, Sketch basics, and what exactly is UX and UI??
- We’ll learn about how to interface with APIs, use Firebase, and a little bit of Unit Testing.
- And a lot more.
So if you are ready to get started, let’s jump right in with our first article on installing Xcode.
Ready. Set. Go.
