Becoming a Mac/iOS Developer

Getting started as a developer in any language or platform can be a struggle. This presentation contains all the little things I wish I knew when I started as an iOS developer.

Transcript

1. Becoming a Mac/iOS Developer Robert Brown @robby_brown
2. So You Want to be a Mac/ iOS Developer? What to expect: This presentation contains everything I wish I knew two years ago I will focus on Mac and iOS development, but the ideas apply to other specialties
3. So You Want to be a Mac/ iOS Developer? What not to expect: This is not an introduction to Objective-C, Xcode, or any other tools.
4. Beginner
5. Find a Mentor Find one to three people who you can ask questions When you hit a problem, spend an hour trying to figure it out on your own If you can’t solve it after an hour, ask your mentor
6. Find a Good Book Mac/iOS: Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide Beginning iOS 5 Development iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide
7. Find a Good Book The Pragmatic Bookshelf iOS SDK Development Core Data (out of print but available on Amazon) Core Animation
8. Find a Good Book The Pragmatic Bookshelf iOS Recipes Designed for Use iPad Programming
9. Find a Good Book Design: Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object- oriented Software The Design of Everyday Things
10. Find a Good Book Maintenance: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code Code Complete
11. Find a Good Book Management: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams The Mythical Man Month Driving Technical Change
12. Tutorials Apple Tutorial Stanford on iTunes
13. Stack Overflow Q&A for developers by developers Lots of developers have the same problems as you If someone hasn’t already asked your question, you can ask the community yourself
14. LinkedIn Start right away, even if you don’t have a good résumé Connections are more valuable than skills Skills are important too Recruiters can’t find enough iOS developers Link to blog and portfolio
15. Twitter @daringfireball: John Gruber—Straightforward Apple news and opinions. WARNING: Coarse language! @mattgemmell: Matt Gemmel—Great iOS dev and blogger. WARNING: Coarse language! @cocoanetics: Oliver Drobnik—Another great iOS developer and blogger.
16. Twitter @gzicherm: Gabe Zicherman—Authority on gamification. WARNING: Coarse language! @bdudney: Bill Dudney—Former Apple engineer and great author for The Pragmatic Bookshelf. @mzarra: Marcus Zarra—Author for The Pragmatic Bookshelf and Cocoa Is My GirlFriend.
17. Twitter @glyphish: Glyphish—Quality, inexpensive iOS icons. @macrumors: MacRumors—Most “reliable” Apple rumors. @macrumorslive: MacRumors—Live tweets Apple events. Good for events that aren’t broadcasted.
18. Twitter @darthvader: Darth Vader (obviously)—Great comic relief for nerds. @davedelong: Dave Delong—Apple employee and amazing developer. @robby_brown: Robert Brown—Hey, that’s me! Independent iOS contractor and blogger. No brownie points for following me.
19. Intermediate
20. Learn Best Practice Most developers/books/tutorials don’t follow good practice :( Design patterns are generic best practices Other best practices are language specific Follow the naming conventions of the language Develop a coding standard
21. Learn Best Practice Find a good mentor It’s hard to learn best practice on your own Do code reviews and pair programming
22. Learn to Design Code Design Pattern: formalized description of best practice There is a vast difference between code that works now and code that will continue to work in the future Mac/iOS naturally pushes good design patterns
23. Learn to Design UI Design for mobile first! If your app doesn’t look good, no one will buy it even if it has amazing functionality The Mac/iOS community naturally gravitates toward good UI/UX Be aware of why and how other app are designed.
24. Learn to Work in Teams Most interesting software is written by a team Good communication skills are critical Knowing how to design helps to subdivide projects A good coder is not necessarily a good project manager and vice versa
25. Learn to Work in Teams Do code reviews and pair programming Use a version control system (VCS) EVERY developer MUST use version control
26. VCS Clients Tower Versions SourceTree Cornerstone Gitbox Terminal (for real devs)
27. Github Git is the standard VCS Github is an open source community Github has many reusable Mac/iOS components.
28. Blogging Teaching others helps reinforce learning Writing skills are critical Great Book: Technical Blogging My Blog: Rob's Program Knowledge Base A collection of obscure errors and elegant solutions
29. Expert
30. Find a Specialty Find an area that interests you and dig deep You should enjoy what you do Broad knowledge is critical, but deep knowledge gets the good jobs My specialties: Multithreading, Core Data, UI/UX Design
31. Be a Mentor Teaching others helps reinforce learning Return the favor for those who mentored you
32. Give Presentations Teaching others helps reinforce learning Communication skills are critical Slide Share: presentation sharing service My Presentations
33. Stack Overflow Teaching others helps reinforce learning Answer questions Gain reputation in your community
34. Github Contribute to one or more open source projects Makes a great portfolio Great way to collaborate with others and learn from them
35. Master
36. Change the World Create a startup Write a book Write for a magazine Do something else crazy
37. Summary Know who and where to get help Network and develop good reputation Have a portfolio both of code and writing Be involved in the community Help others
38. Want to Learn More? Lots of links in previous slides http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want- to-be-a-developer-part-1 http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want- to-be-a-developer-part-2
39. Questions?