Opinion
16 posts
Being a programmer myself, I know how challenging it can be to find the perfect gift for a fellow coder. Programmers are often quirky with peculiar interests. Finding a gift that speaks to their passions can be, well, challenging. The good news is that there are plenty of options to delight any coder, whether they are a seasoned professional or just starting out.
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The primary goal of Cocoacasts has always been to help developers become better at their craft. It can be challenging to put that into words. But there's one trait I feel every good developer should have, being critical. This means being critical of your own work. And that of others.
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Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? Like Pauline Rose Clance, I prefer imposter experience as it better describes the problem. A surprising number of people suffer from imposter experience. And developers are no exception. What is imposter experience? And why am I writing about it in this book?
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The vast number of tutorials and courses about software development is a blessing for anyone interested in building software. And this is no less true for anyone interested in Swift development. Getting started with Swift development is easy and it doesn't need to cost a fortune. But, as many of us have discovered, there's a downside to this wealth of information. In this chapter, I'd like to highlight three problems that I frequently face and hear about from my students and readers.
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Now that I'm in my thirties, I have to be more careful about what I do to make sure I stay healthy and productive. Today, I would like to give you a few tips that have helped me stay productive, even when under stress or with a lot on my plate. After reading this article, I'm sure you can appreciate the title of this post.
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Most frameworks and libraries have guidelines and best practices. And Apple’s SDKs are no different. While there is room for experimentation and exploration, a typical iOS application, for example, uses one or more view controllers and the user can navigate between those view controllers. That is a recipe you are probably familiar with.
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Last month, I wrote about building and shipping something, putting something into people's hands. I understand that life gets in the way from time to time, but I am genuinely wondering if you are creating something.
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The mobile space is still very young, relatively speaking, and it evolves at an incredible pace. With Apple and Google heavily investing in their platforms, the speed with which mobile platforms evolve requires developers to focus and learn non-stop.
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It isn't easy for inexperienced developers to find an attractive job without years of experience or an impressive portfolio. That shouldn't be an excuse, though. It has never been easier for developers to build a portfolio, gaining experience along the way. In this article, I show a few examples of how you can build a portfolio and gain experience to help you find clients or impress your future employer.
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As a developer, chances are that you have started more projects than you can remember. But how many of those projects have you finished? How many applications did end up in the hands of customers?
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A portfolio is one of the most important assets of any developer with ambition. Mobile applications, for example, are so commonplace that potential employers or clients will want to see what projects you have worked on in the past. Aspiring developers often ask what they should show if they haven’t created any applications yet. The answer is simple. Start creating.
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Before the iPhone was introduced in 2007, "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" by Aaron Hillegass was the book if you were interested in Cocoa development. It was Aaron's book that introduced me to Cocoa programming.
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Steve Jobs famously said "Real artists ship." He meant that putting your work out in the world is an essential aspect of every creative, and that includes developers. Creatives that only work in isolation and never ship anything may not be that real after all.
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How productive you are as a developer isn't only the result of your habits, your talents, and your experience. Your environment plays a key role, especially if you work in a team, a company, or a shared workspace.
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The concept of open source has been around for decades, but platforms like GitHub have accelerated the growth of open source initiatives. Most of us can't imagine a world without open source software.
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