I have never been attracted by the mobile development but yet, a few days ago, I decided to start studying Swift to develop apps for the Apple ecosystem.
The last time I develop a mobile app it's been at the University. My app was an academic transcript - I developed it for myself initially - where students could see they grades and some statistics like the average.
But at some point I didn't find the mobile development so interesting. I was interested in the web development: web apps, front end mainly.
At the moment I am an Application engineer at The LEGO Group, where I work in a "full JavaScript" codebase. It's a paradise.
But, as I said, a few days ago I convinced myself to give another try with the mobile development starting with Swift. I was watching at the Apple event One More Thing where Apple announced the new M1 processor and the Universal Apps: iPhone and iPad apps can run on Macs now. I found it interesting so I quickly updated my Macbook Air installing Big Sur and some updates for Xcode. Then I got started.
My first steps
I am totally new to Swift and to the Apple apps. So I searched for a good entry level course. I found the 100 Days of Swift vert comprehensive - thanks Paul.
Paul Hudson@twostraws
Learn SwiftUI for free: hackingwithswift.com/100/swiftui
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Subscribe to Hacking with Swift+: hackingwithswift.com/plus02:57 AM - 19 Jun 2020
Other resources I found interesting for an entry level:
- https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-swift
- https://www.raywenderlich.com/ios/
- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/
- https://www.youtube.com/user/CodeWithChris
Well then.. Good luck to me!
Top comments (5)
Good luck. You're going to need it.
I tried to learn Swift once, already knowing Python, C++, and a few other languages. I hated everything about it.
But then, aside from that, I distrust anything so platform-specific, so tightly linked to a walled garden, that they have to practically beg people to learn it.
If you want to do mobile development, there are a dozen other languages that are far more portable (and less syntactically freakish).
But, in the end, that's just my two cents. "If it works..."
I am trying to convince myself that the hybrid apps are good - if it’s what you mean - but I can’t. I cannot stand at the idea of writing some JavaScript to build apps for iOS and Android together.. but I never tried so maybe it’s just a wrong idea I have of that :)
I also know Android development with Kotlin is very popular.
What do you suggest?
I haven't done a lot of mobile development, but portable languages --- ones that work across multiple platforms --- will always be easier to maintain, and less prone to fade out of support than platform-centric languages. That's true in any domain.
However, I don't recommend JavaScript for app development, so called "hybrid apps." That's an entirely separate topic, wherein you're creating an app as a glorified website. Some people love it (I hate it), but it's a topic unto itself.
I'm instead talking about native app development. Look into languages like C#, Python, or C++. These are consistently towards the front of the pack for mobile development, especially because they work on everything (more or less).
If you have a Mac, sure! Why not. I just learn the basics of the language (variables, if else, etc) so I can’t tell you if it’s really wort building apps with Swift.
Two weeks since I started.. And I can say it's worth :)
dev.to/rossanodan/two-weeks-since-...