Would an old guy (75) who is proficient in Obj-C, only codes for iOS/macOS/tvOS/web, and has spent the last 60 years promising himself “that’s definitely the last language I’m learning”, now find it pleasing/beneficial/productive to learn Swift/SwiftUI? Assume programming is relegated to a hobby and favorite pastime and I’ll live 10 more years :) Thanks.
Learn Swift and SwiftUI in my old age?
Last year, at age 73, I decided to switch my hobby programming to Swift/SwiftUI from XOJO. I waited for SwiftUI to mature as UIKit made my eyes glaze over. After about 6 months of grinding, I successfully converted one of my XOJO apps. I now know there's a few things I did sub-optimally, so I'm continuing to learn. Jump in, the water's fine.
find it pleasing/beneficial/productive to learn Swift/SwiftUI?
Let’s break that down:
- Pleasing That’s very much gonna depend on you.
- Beneficial Yes. Regardless of any other factors, there’s solid evidence that learning new stuff is beneficial, especially as you get older.
- Productive That kinda depends on what you intend to produce (-:
As someone who’s not exactly young myself, I’ve started to understand that the time I have left is limited, and that I need to focus on what I enjoy. I absolutely love playing around with computers, so if and when I retire there’s no doubt I’ll continue doing that.
Keep in mind that there’s a middle ground, namely using Swift to call the frameworks you already know. If you get pleasure from shipping stuff, that might be a good first step, rather than wrestling with Swift and SwiftUI at the same time.
Share and Enjoy
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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
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