An Awkward Moment for the Mayans
With a renewed sense of purpose due to the fact that the Mayan gods have given us a stay of execution I spent sometime to reflect on 2012 and what I need and want to do for 2013. Year after year I find myself increasingly motivated to become a better developer. Specifically iOS…and as luck would have it being an iOS developer never runs out of interesting challenges and rewards.
C What is Underneath
Over the past two months I have interviewed five potential canidates for an open developer position at work. I was shocked that they didn’t have a basic understanding of the language they were “proficient” in, as well as, basic problem solving skills and experience with development fundamentals. After I reviewed my notes I began to wonder just how well I understand numerous aspects of Objective-C and UIKit. The language and frameworks I understand pretty well, but what I found was I had taken the foundation of Objective-C for granted: C.
Why is NSError passed by reference? Why do you block copy when you want to modify it? In order to satisfy my curiosity I bought the following books:
While I don’t have an urge to become an expert in C (as of today) I do want to achieve of understanding of the language fundamentals.
Nerds of a Feather
Conferences and meet ups. These are resources that, regretfully, I didn’t partake in very much in 2012. Usually because work, however on the rare occassions I did go I was blown away by the amazing knowledge and skills of the presenters and attendees. Becoming a regular at these events will be a priority.
AppKit – Oh My
Ever since I started development for WhoNote I have a much greater appreciation for those developers who make their living writing Mac apps. Concepts that I took for granted in iOS are beyond trivial when dealing with AppKit. However, I do not shrink towards challenges but rise. I’m committed to becoming just as knowledgeably and proficient with AppKit as UIKit.
Putting the Who in WhoNote
WhoNote has been my biggest endeavor to date and by far my greatest labor of love. Getting the iOS and Mac App out are a top priority.