Student Profile: Holly A - From Ruby to Swift

Have you worked with code before?

I took an Intro to Computer Science course at my school. It was Java basics and was enjoyable, but extremely easy and there were no real challenges. We did a little building, but not much.

What made you decide to come and work with iOS?

[My dad] thought I’d like this because I liked the introductory course at school and because I play chess, which is a very similar mindset. So I took the Upperline Web Development course and I really really enjoyed it and now I’m in iOS.

So you went from Web Development to iOS — what are the more surprising things that have come out of iOS compared to Web Dev?

I was surprised by how much easier Swift seems in comparison to when I first learned Ruby. Because it was so new to me, Ruby was much more confusing. I’d definitely recommend that if you take multiple classes, take one after the other because it makes you feel like you know what you’re doing. I was also surprised by how different the formatting is. In Ruby, you use a lot of HTML and CSS to style whereas in Swift it’s mostly just constraints and you drag and drop the images — the visual aspects require less coding.

What’s the most exciting thing you’ve learned?

It’s exciting how much we can do in so little time. We literally made an app on the first day. I already have 12 apps on my phone that I’ve made, and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet.

Do you have any plans after Upperline in terms of code? Anything you want to build?

My dad actually asked me to build a website so that he can sell his collection of chess books. As for iOS, we made a tip calculator app in class and I think I want to keep working on it to make it a little more fancy. Also, in the fall I plan to take the Upperline Intermediate Web Development course.

Any advice or words of wisdom for future potential students?

Before the program, I was really worried because I didn’t know how many girls there would be or what they would be like. So for future students, I would just say don’t worry about it because you’re going to meet a bunch of cool people and cool girls just like you.