Starting out on IOS mobile development, some suggestions?

Question

Created Sep ’15

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Im a web developer who works in a firm which is going to start pushing me to IOS programming. So I wanted to hear recommendations on a few things.

Just to get you guys up to speed. We already have a IOS app to sell our products, but it mostly uses preload HTML and webservices call to an API. Im not really familiarize with IOS code, but I get the idea on this. So they want me to update the code to be compatible with IOS9 as well as AppleTV. So Im not sure how much work this is, or how hard it could get to be. This is also to keep updating the IOS App.

So lets begin:

First of all hardware. To start they want to buy me a Mac Mini computer. Ive never programmed on IOS so Im not sure of the requirements for the XCode and so on. What worries me is the Emulator or XCode. Will Mac Mini be a good starting point? Or would you guys recommend me otherwise?

Secondly. Any good Online course to begin with. Me personally for this would like more a course with in a physical place cause of the timelines they are asking me to do this in, but to begin. Any suggestions on Online SWIFT or IOS Mobile Development courses? What is better SWIFT or C++ ?

Lastly, hearing about what I have to do, could anyone tell me if its possible to make this changes in at most two months. Notice I wont have all day for the courses and Ive got other work to be done in this firm, so this wont be my only project. By what Ive researched, the new AppleTV and IOS9 does not support the embeded HTML our app has currently. Not sure exactly how its not supported thought. It was something a colleague told me.

Any thoughts? Ill be here if you guys have any questions.

Thanks for the help in advance 😀

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Answer 1

bob133 OP

Sep ’15

First question: a Mac Mini is perfectly fine. Xcode doesn't have significant hardware requirements—it runs just fine for me on my MacBook Air (1.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 128GB SSD). You can download Xcode right from the Mac App Store; it includes everything you need, including an iOS simulator. If you need additional resources, they're pretty easy to find.

Second question: While I'm not particularly knowledgeable about what online courses are availble, there are some guides for Swift on the iBooks Store. You won't be using C++; instead the choice is between Swift and Objective-C (which works in similar manner to C++ but has entirely different syntax). Swift is, for the most part, more similar to the traditional syntax of C++ and Java.

Third question: I'm not particularly knowledgeable about iOS or tvOS, so unfortunately I can't answer that question. 😟 Sorry though.

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Answer 2

JFeuchter OP

Sep ’15

Thanks Bob 😀 You still helped me a bunch. Ill take a look on the iBooks you mention. Hope someone else can give me some more insides on about iOS9 and tvOS. Thanks for your comments 😀

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Answer 3

ybakos OP

Sep ’15

Regardless of the machine itself, be sure to use as large a screen, if not multiple screens. This is a huge boost for your productivity. The ideal? A 30" monitor with 2560 horizontal pixels. You will be fine with any Apple machine less than a few years old (even older is fine too).

I recommend the Code School iOS courses for their approchability, but they are a little dated and they also only focus on oC. But, they are a fine start.

An even better option would be for them to send you to Big Nerd Ranch for a 7-day training session. This is the single smartest move that your company can make. Emphasize that. It is worth every penny they would spend.

Regarding your timeline, that is impossible to answer and estimate. But note that there are two ways of building tvOS apps; one is native, and the other uses a specialized form of the typical web stack.

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Answer 4

JFeuchter OP

Sep ’15

Awesome suggestions 😀 Thanks Ill take a serious look into the Boot Camp Im really intrested. Regarding tvOS, by specialized form of typical web stack. Does this mean it would support web content and web service calls?

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Answer 5

ybakos OP

Sep ’15

@JFeuchter Yes, but it is not complete HTML5, etc. See the documentation and tvjs.

You should check the apple tv forum for more info probably, that's where folks would be talking about that stuff.

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