Getting Started with Programming an iOS App

[QueHuong]

I want get your thoughts on what it takes to get started.

Quick background: I've only taken 1 C++ course in college and am decent with the logic of it. I've only covered the basics such as loops, variables, ..gosh, it's been so long I don't even remember the topics. I haven't covered any intermediate or advanced topics like classes, algorithms, graphics, etc. But I will pick it up faster than someone starting out fresh.

I'm a Biomedical Engineer, doing a postbac since I want to go into medicine or dentistry. I want to establish my niche as a healthcare provider as being technologically savvy. I imagine creating an app for medical professionals that fills an unfilled need or programming an app for patients that both educates and markets my practice. At least that's the dream.

So I want to ask you guys who've programmed an iOS app on your experiences on getting started. How much time/effort did it take? Is it possible for a time-limited student to pick this up on the side? Are there many resources available for one to program an appealing and beautifully designed app?

Thanks all.

 

[JavaMomma]

I don't want to wreck your dream but I don't think it is really that doable *if* your time-limited *and* don't have some programming knowledge.

I'm a software developer with 10 years experience - I work everyday all day on computers, C#/Java/Python/Postgresql/SQLServer (mostly backend server programming) both Linux/Windows development.

As someone who is time-limited, last February I picked up a contract on the side, small/medium size local database driven application. I had never used XCode or Objective-C or OSX for that matter before. So there was a lot of learning for me. From the time I cracked open the Mac the first time till 1.0.0 release my work log shows > 350 hours (getting close to 400 hrs? - I don't feel like adding them up exactly)

Now that also includes setting things up like an Issue Tracker, Source Control (GIT which I had never used as I was an SVN guy) and some other odds and ends as the App had to synchronize data with a webserver and meetings and discussions and screen mockups e-mails with clients.

Anyway, last week the App was just accepted by Apple and I can say I have some good Objective-C/XCode skills now in my tool belt and while it feels good to have it done, it really wasn't easy to do on top of my regular day job plus regular life. Obviously if I was to do another App the next one would be much faster (2/3 to 1/2 the time I would guess).

I think you would have to be exceptionally gifted to come into this without any real programming knowledge and do it when you're time-limited. If you wanted to sit down and do it 40-50 hours a week and really wanted to learn, sure, yes you can do it.

 

[runawayprisoner]

To start off, I think JavaMomma covered the gist of it with regards to Objective-C.

The thing is... if you're not already familiar with the way programming languages work, then you are going to struggle very hard here. Objective-C is not something any beginner can pick up leisurely on the sideline. You'll definitely want a guide to walk you through it.

Youtube has some good resources.

Personally, I'm more of a practical learner, so I started looking directly at the source codes Apple provided on their website, modified them, played around with them, analyzed them, and at about 100 hours into it, I finally had the language in my grip. But that's me...

Here's where I got started:
https://developer.apple.com/library...Started/RoadMapiOS/chapters/Introduction.html

Now. That's just the language part. The real showstopper here is actually not how much time it takes for you to learn the language... but how much time it takes for you to build a concrete understanding of how iOS works... and how you can achieve certain things that you want to achieve. You need to spend a lot of time to try and test things out in order to build for yourself a sort of "general knowledge" of what to do and what to expect while working with iOS. The language by itself is just about 10% of the entire journey.

You need time to build for yourself custom classes and objects that you can use to achieve things iOS does not support yet (like rich text formatting), or make it easier to do things that iOS already does... like incorporating OpenGL ES effects into your app, for instance. Apple just introduced the GLKit framework into iOS to simplify this, and for the most part, it works, but it's not "easy to use" for a beginner trying to jump into iOS.

And then you need to familiarize yourself with the limitations of the OS (memory usage, restricted APIs, system resources that your app is not allowed to access, etc...) and the device (how is physical camera recognized? What to do when there is no GPS device? How do you recognize when your app is running on an iPod or an iPhone? etc...).

It's definitely not a walk in the park. Apple has put in some valiant effort to make it easier, but it's still not so easy that you can just waltz in and start producing apps like a pro. You need years of experience for this.