# Learning Android/iOS development # Starting out development My first programming language to learn was _Visual Basic 6_. I had this book that gave a nice introduction to the language with all the _Sub…End Sub_, _Dim title() As String_ etc. Using forms with drag and drop support, I’d create beautiful UI on my PC that gave me that super power I longed for — _instructing a computer to do what I want_. If you think about it, that’s what programming is all about. I desired to write mobile apps but didn’t know where to start. My research led to _Java2ME_ and NetBeans 6.0 was installed. I toyed around with this new found tech but lacked a proper introduction to the language used — Java. If I remember correctly, the first Java book to encounter on was [Teach Yourself Java in 21 days](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/sams-teach-yourself/9780133755848/). Such a quick walk through of the language! Later on, I found out about [Deitel & Deitel, Java How to Program](http://deitel.com/Books/Java/JavaHowtoProgramLateObjectsVersion11e/tabid/3685/Default.aspx)_, 6th Edition_ and I fell in love with their books and mode of teaching. Armed with these, I went on to write _routines_ for those pesky maze games on the Java2ME platform. # Android Programming ![android.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1587881765381/Zqfg2502_.jpeg) I first laid my hands on Android development at a Google event dubbed **gKenya 2.0** (I think I also attended _gKenya 1.0_ 🤔). I’m surprised the schedule is still up [here](https://sites.google.com/site/gkenya20/) at the time of writing. Day 2 was the most interesting as it was focused on developers. Someone at the event made a remark: > If you know Java, you know 50% Android development! That was my cue. How true this was, I left it to chance. I learnt the basics; Activities, Services, Broadcast Receiver and Content Providers. This got me going as I continued to learn from the official documentation and samples I would gather online + Stack Overflow. I have written several hobby apps since then (just [published](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.charlesmuchene.kotlin.learn) one of them — [open source](https://github.com/charlesmuchene/learn-kotlin-app)) and also had a chance to be a consultant on an app rewrite; Ionic to native Android. Full time employment as a mobile application developer altered the course of my development career. Writing a hobby app is one thing. Delivering a business solution is another. Being in a work environment adheres to two major points: * Delivering quality solutions * Delivering those solutions in a timeframe These two requirements seem paradoxical for a beginner/junior developer but experience teaches you that’s how a business runs. To the first point, you need to learn Computer Science fundamentals; commonly used data structures such as arrays, sets, lists, maps, hash tables etc as well as have some skills in problem solving — knowing how and when to use these data structures alongside common techniques like Dynamic Programming or general recursion. My two go to practice sites are the famous [LeetCode](https://leetcode.com/) and [CodeSignal](https://codesignal.com/). [Pramp](https://www.pramp.com/) is also a good resource especially for interview-like preparation. # iOS Programming ![ios.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1587881783172/KEoGMVOUr.jpeg) Diving into iOS was by self-inflicted fire. I had to deliver a clone of an Android app within the shortest time possible. I mention this in the introductory section of another [article](/@charlesmuchene/activity-vs-uiviewcontroller-lifecycle-5a7a5a2e219f). [Official documentation](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/referencelibrary/GettingStarted/DevelopiOSAppsSwift/) served me well for this task as well as samples online for a couple of features. YouTube tutorials from [Brian Voong](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuP2vJ6kRutQBfRmdcI92mA), [Sean Allen](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTw29mcP12YlTt1EpUaVJw), [Cocoacasts](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAK-zGL8Gf7oZQciX4JZvbA/), [Brian Advent](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysEngjfeIYapEER9K8aikw) among others came in handy in bootstrapping my iOS learning journey. Awesome writers such [John Sundell](https://www.swiftbysundell.com/) and [Paul Hudson](https://www.hackingwithswift.com/) keep me up to date with content. I am currently reading [iOS 13 Programming fundamentals](https://www.amazon.com/iOS-13-Programming-Fundamentals-Swift/dp/1492074535), a great book by [Matt Neuberg](https://twitter.com/mattneub). * * * YouTube has been a great resource in my learning. I’ve watched videos from [Devoxx](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCBVCTuk6uJrN3iFV_3vurg), [Android Dev Summit & Google IO](https://www.youtube.com/user/androiddevelopers), WWDC [videos](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-ngzACBMva8T81KEyIwwmQ), [William Fiset](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8yeTczadqdARzQUp29PJw) (Graph theory + Data Structures) and [My Code School](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClEEsT7DkdVO_fkrBw0OTrA) (Algorithms and DS). # Conclusion I engage a lot with my peers on their view on development and find out how they keep up with the industry: books, conference videos, code labs, tutorials, blog posts, twitter, OSS and podcasts among others come up as some ways to learn content. I write apps using Swift, Kotlin and Java. These 3 languages, in addition to the various frameworks and libraries on Android and iOS, sure keep me learning something everyday. Keep learning! # Resources ## Data Structures + Algorithms * [William Fiset](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD8yeTczadqdARzQUp29PJw) * [My Code School](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClEEsT7DkdVO_fkrBw0OTrA) * [Introduction to Algorithms](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms-third-edition) * [LeetCode](https://leetcode.com/) * [CodeSignal](https://codesignal.com/) * [HackerRank](https://www.hackerrank.com/) * [BaseCS](https://medium.com/basecs) ## iOS * [Matt Neuburg](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/ios-13-programming/9781492074526/) * [John Sundell](https://www.swiftbysundell.com/) * [Paul Hudson](https://www.hackingwithswift.com/) * [WWDC + other videos](https://developer.apple.com/videos/) * [Kickstarter iOS OSS](https://github.com/kickstarter/ios-oss) * [Brian Advent](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysEngjfeIYapEER9K8aikw) * [Cocoacasts](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAK-zGL8Gf7oZQciX4JZvbA) * [Sean Allen](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTw29mcP12YlTt1EpUaVJw) * [Brian Voong](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuP2vJ6kRutQBfRmdcI92mA) ## Android * [Kotlin](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/) * [Android Dev Summit + IO](https://www.youtube.com/user/androiddevelopers) * [Codelabs](https://codelabs.developers.google.com/) * [Devoxx](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCBVCTuk6uJrN3iFV_3vurg) * [Kickstarter Android OSS](https://github.com/kickstarter/android-oss) * [Fragmented Podcast](https://fragmentedpodcast.com/)