Summary

The content describes the author's first week of experiences with the online iOS development course #BCSwift, focusing on learning Swift and SwiftUI for iOS using Xcode and GitHub, with an emphasis on hands-on learning and understanding the logic behind coding concepts.

Abstract

The author, an aspiring Swift programmer aiming to win the Apple WWDC23 Challenge, shares insights from the inaugural week of the #BCSwift course, taught by Professor Gallaugher from Boston College. The week's activities included setting up Xcode, creating a GitHub account, and connecting it to Xcode, culminating in the development of a simple yet meaningful app called YouAreAwesome, diverging from the traditional "Hello World" introductory project. The course also covered essential skills such as version control with Git and GitHub directly within Xcode, and presented coding challenges that reinforced the week's learning objectives. The author appreciates the course's comprehensive approach, which avoids skipping fundamental concepts, ensuring a deep understanding of Swift and iOS development principles.

Opinions

The author values the practical approach of the course, highlighting the immediate application of knowledge in developing a real app.
There is a positive sentiment towards the course's curriculum for not abbreviating content deemed "boring" and for providing a thorough understanding of the subject matter.
The author finds the integration of GitHub with Xcode to be a valuable new skill.
The challenges presented in the course are seen as beneficial for learning and applying Swift, pushing the author to engage deeply with the material.
The author appreciates the hands-on experience and the ability to create simple apps after just one week, indicating the course's effectiveness.
The course's format, which mirrors the in-person class experience with lectures, notes, and keynotes, is highly regarded by the author.
The author recommends the course to others interested in learning Swift and becoming better computer science students.

Week 1 of ISYS2160 — Learn to Program Using Swift & SwiftUI for iOS Development — Online.

Update: My feelings has changed about online learning, please check Week Two Review for more information.

Thanks to Twitter, or better yet my new favorite social media Mastodon, I came across #BCSwift or as it is known online iOSCodeCrush, a Swift course taught by professor Gallaugher from Boston College.

And since I want to win the Apple WWDC23 Challenge that is coming up soon, I wanted to learn how to code with Swift! And by the way, I will go into more detail about my experience with learning Swift which is a journey on its own; and also my interactions with professor Gallaugher , but I want you to know that my knowledge is close to zero with Swift and I’m starting fresh.

Now that you know how I came across the course. I will talk about doing the work for week one, which was an enriching experience to say the least, which had the following:

A) Setting up Xcode and GitHub account and connecting Github to Xcode.

My thoughts: I liked the first video session because it was set up to make you a developer by design, it makes you create your GitHub account, which I have mine created few years ago already, and it teaches you how to set up your Xcode, which I have set up a while ago as well. Then it goes into how to connect your GitHub account to Xcode which I never did before, so that was something new that I didn’t know it is something that we can do, so from the first session I’m already learning and now I have my GitHub connected with Xcode!, NICE!

@State private var messageString = "You Are Awesome, Buddy!"
    
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text(messageString)
                .font(.largeTitle)
                .fontWeight(.heavy)
                .foregroundColor(.orange)
                .padding()
   }

B) Going into making your first App!

My thoughts: I know what you are thinking; the first App?, it is another “Hello World,” right? Actually no, it is not to your surprise and mine. He did say that he doesn’t think that “Hello World” is a real App more or less, and he doesn’t like it so we went straight into making something more powerful! And it was an app called YouAreAwesome, which is very refreshing as a change from other online courses. And while you are working on the project you’ll learn many things that I won’t spoil for you, However! me personally, I did learn some excellent shortcuts which were very helpful to speed up my workflow with Xcode and I know I sound like I have experience in Xcode and Swift, and to that I say, my knowledge doesn’t go beyond the ability of creating simple variables.

We also learned how to work with Git and GitHub regarding push and pull and commit through Xcode, which is much easier than using the MacOS terminal as I usually do when working on a coding project like building my website for example.

C) Solving the problems or “Challenges.”

My thoughts: I loved it! The first challenge was easy, and then came the 2nd and 3rd and they are a bit harder where I had to use my brain to figure them out. They forced me to learn and since it was so hands-on, I learned so much only within the first week to the point where I can create something simple if I want to with the knowledge I gain from the first week only!

Conclusion:

Week 1 was great and better than I thought. Furthermore, in my opinion what makes this the best Swift course online, is that there is no skipping for the “Boring” stuff meaning there is no abbreviation like how it takes place with every other YouTuber course or content. Instead, here you will understand why something would work the way it does and what is the logic behind it, and that is very important to me as a scholar.

The fact that it is a college-level course and for free with lectures, notes, keynotes that are the same once as in the in-person class, makes it even better!, and trust me It will help you not only code but also be a better computer science student.

Here is the link to the course if you want to jump in and learn:

https://bit.ly/prof-g-swiftui

Note: Everything written is my own thoughts and ideas. I was not endorsed or encouraged to write or talk about the course in any shape or form.