

Ask HN: Self Taught iOS developers - boca

If you are a self taught iOS developer who knew little to no programming before starting with iOS and now have app(s) in the appstore or work&#x2F;freelance as a iOS developer, I would love to hear from you on the following:<p>- Were there any specific online courses&#x2F;videos that you think were a key in your success and you will highly recommend to others?<p>- Books that you will highly recommend?<p>- How did you get your first gig or idea for an app?<p>- What were your biggest challenges - too much knowledge out there, not able to devote much time because of other things, lack of motivation at times etc.?
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ceeK
Learned using Stanford course - this is pretty standard.

Bought a book for Cocoa programming to learn Obj-C. Alright, but not a deal
breaker.

First gig I offered for $200 flat rate to get the portfolio rolling, through a
HN post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6382405](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6382405)

First app idea was actually a game, I learned what was necessary to build it
([https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/firework-
flare/id513766705?m...](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/firework-
flare/id513766705?mt=8)).

Biggest challenge: going from basic programming knowledge to having to use
design patterns, strange (at the time) syntax.

~~~
boca
Thanks. I like the idea about offering a flat rate to get things off the
ground. Did you ever do the blog post that you mentioned in the linked post?

After you got the basic knowledge, how did you progress to the design patterns
- was it while working on apps or you devoted extra time to learn them?

~~~
ceeK
No problem. I didn't get round to it unfortunately, although I probably
should. I'm sure it would have encouraged a few people.

I mainly went in naively until I interned at an app development agency. They
introduced me to the common design patterns and iOS-ways of doing things and
started me along the right path.

~~~
boca
A blog post would definitely be helpful for others starting out. Let us know
if you do end up writing it. I hope you do.

------
chrisBob
I started mostly with "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X". I wanted to learn
objective-C, but I hadn't convinced myself that an iPad was worth the
investment yet. From there I worked on my first iOS game with a combination of
Stack Overflow and Apple references.

My first big project was "Ocean Commotion"[1] and the motivation was that I
didn't see many good multi touch games in the app store. It still disappoints
me how most iOS games would be better suited to play with a mouse or keyboard
when there is this amazing interface available. Did you know an iPad can
handle 11 touch points at once, and an iPhone can handle 5?

My game started out as two orange rectangles that I could drag around on a
blue background. Once you realize that views all get their own inputs then
having 5 objects all respond to touch events at the same time is pretty
straightforward.

For your first app I recommend starting with something simple. One recent game
I made was "Jack Slap"[2]. It is a simple reaction time game, and would make a
decent introduction into working with Xcode. Don't worry about the details up
front. Just think of a concept or single feature you like and start doodling
in code to get a feel for things.

My biggest challenge is probably my artistic ability. You can tell that I got
an artist involved for Ocean Commotion, but not for anything else. Making an
app look good is an important part of the process. Fortunately there are lots
of artists out there who can't code to help you out!

[1] [http://oceancmotion.com](http://oceancmotion.com)

[2][https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jack-
slap/id846622220?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jack-
slap/id846622220?mt=8) (iTunes link)

~~~
boca
Thanks. I didn't know about the possibility for so many touch points. Ocean
Commotion looks nice and the graphics are better than Jack Slap which also
looks interesting. I saw that you mentioned somewhere that your wife considers
building apps to be same as buying lottery tickets. How's your app store sales
experience been so far?

~~~
chrisBob
With no advertising a decent game like Ocean Commotion is worth about
$20/year, not counting the $99 developer fee. If you include the developer fee
then it is worth about -$79.

So far I am buying the wrong lottery tickets.

------
joshdance
I did the Stanford iOS course and the Big Nerd ranch books for 2 months,
before I got hired at a startup doing iOS. Biggest challenge was getting stuck
and not having someone in person to show me the way.

~~~
boca
Thanks. You didn't have any programming experience before starting with the
Stanford course? If yes then that's pretty impressive. I understand, to some
extent, the frustration around getting stuck and not having any guidance. Do
you think the job market for iOS developers is still pretty hot or has
stagnated now?

~~~
joshdance
I had a little. Too a few classes in college but felt like I was learning
things over again.

Job market for iOS is still strong, and will be for a long time. But on top of
that, job market for programmers is strong and once you can program, it is
easy to branch out.

------
kthr
Self taught with the Stanford Course during my first and second year at
university before I ended up at an agency where I had developers guiding me
with patterns, syntax and other programming fundamentals.

I've now graduated with a first and work as a full time developer at a
startup.

My one piece of advice would be to set yourself an idea and try to build it.
Build, try and don't be afraid of exceptions. They're there to help you.

My portfolio - [http://kathuria.me](http://kathuria.me)

~~~
boca
Thanks. It seems after getting the initial learning under the belt, working
with an agency is a good option to learn the iOS way of doing things working
alongside others. Congratulations on the full time role and wish you all the
best with Inkmill.

------
rrrrrraul
I used pretty much all the resources already mentioned (Big Nerd Ranch,
Raywenderlich, Stanford course), but I'd like to add a few more to the mix -
check out [http://objc.io](http://objc.io) ,
[http://nshipster.com](http://nshipster.com) and
[http://nsscreencast.com](http://nsscreencast.com)

Note - I have no affiliation to any of the links above, I just think they're
good resources. Good luck!

~~~
boca
Thanks. I just subscribed to the first two of the 3 links that you shared.

------
alekh2014
-I would anyday recommend Raywenderwich tutorial. They are just awesome and so easy to follow.

-[http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Develo...](http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objective-C-Edition-Developers-Library/dp/032188728X)

-Just a problem which I tried to solve. Was searcing for one but didnt found any good solution.

\- Lack of research, just creating app is not enough, you have to market your
app. Also, Lack of time was my another problem

~~~
boca
Thanks. Raywenderlich.com seems to be a popular choice. I will check it out.
What is your app called and how's it doing?

------
coralreef
\- Stanford iTunes course, anything on Raywenderlich.com

\- Built my first app based on what I knew from tutorials

\- Biggest challenge: programming is hard

~~~
zerr
> Biggest challenge: programming is hard

Just one thing, don't be disappointed - it's not you, it's iOS SDK and Obj-C -
these are a real crap. If you want to enjoy, try Qt.

~~~
coralreef
Maybe. Now that I know how to program, I'm quite comfortable with iOS and
Obj-C. What was difficult was mostly the concept of OOP, I think.

