println("Hello World!")
I just finished coding another iOS app this week. It should be in the App Store in a couple weeks (App Store review process takes that long). It's an ABCs flashcard app designed by a friend of mine with silly animals drawn by him. I wrote the code in Objective-C. I have been coding Objective-C since the iPhone OS SDK (Software Development Kit) was made available in 2008. I learned from the Stanford iPhone Development class on iTunes U in my spare time. I made my first iOS app in 8 months while following along with the class.
I've been coding iOS apps for about five years now and I still consider myself a beginner—Apple updates the SDK every year. And this year comes the biggest change—Swift. I started writing code in Swift the day it was released and so far I haven't missed coding in Objective-C. As a designer, this is great news. Swift is much nicer on the eyes and easier to digest—less code to write. I'll write more on my experience with Swift in later posts.
My journey into code
In school, I was learning code on my own to be able to showcase my artwork online—I was an Illustration major at the time. The web was new, so there weren't any blogs or online communities like Stack Overflow. Web development was also too new to be a curriculum in school. I was one of the first to learn about web development, so I helped teach my classmates when it was offered at school. I loved web development so much that I stuck with it and changed my major.
I'm not a programmer—I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with emphasis on Electronic Media (Interactive Design). However, a good part of my career was focusing on the front-end development. I wrote a lot of HTML/CSS/JavaScript for the companies I worked at. The coding and programming techniques I've learned on my own just by doing it every day. I like to figure things out on my own.
I started writing code my second year of college (1994) in an Apple programming tool called HyperCard. A lot of great games were developed in HyperCard, such as Myst. Our class assignments included an Edutainment app, a portfolio, Music Artist Bio, etc. I enjoyed designing the experience, designing the layout, and of course writing the code. Without the code, none of my design would work. The greatest feeling came when everything was assembled. It was a delight to see my classmates using my application. I was the first to incorporate video and audio into the class projects—it was great to see their reactions.
Making people feel good using the products I build is why I love to code.
Connect with me on twitter @ArtofNor.