Apple's 'App Development With Swift' Curriculum Expanding to Dozens of Community Colleges

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that its App Development with Swift curriculum will now be offered in more than 30 leading community college systems across the United States in the 2017-2018 school year.

The full-year course, available for free on the iBooks store, teaches students how to build apps using Apple's open source programming language Swift. Apple says the course takes students with no programming experience and enables them to build fully-functional apps of their own design.

"We've seen firsthand how Apple's app ecosystem has transformed the global economy, creating entire new industries and supporting millions of jobs," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We believe passionately that same opportunity should be extended to everyone, and community colleges have a powerful reach into communities where education becomes the great equalizer."

The community college systems adopting the App Development with Swift curriculum in the fall include Austin Community College District, Northeast Mississippi Community College, Northwest Kansas Technical College, and additional campuses in the Alabama Community College System.

"We're thrilled to have Apple join our mission to make Austin more affordable for people who already live in the city," said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. "Apple is going to be a force multiplier in the community's ongoing efforts to lift 10,000 out of poverty and into good jobs over the next five years."

Austin town mayor Steve Adler said Apple CEO Tim Cook is in Austin today. Cook will visit the Austin Community College District, meet with employees, and speak with local app developers at tech accelerator Capital Factory in downtown Austin, according to the Austin American-Statesman.


Article Link: Apple's 'App Development With Swift' Curriculum Expanding to Dozens of Community Colleges

 

[Solomani]

Thank goodness for Apple recognizing the important (vocational) role of US community colleges.

 

[69650]

I've never written any code before but Swift looks fun so I'm going to have a go and create my own app.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Well this is some positive news. Now how about manufacturing and engineering.

 

[sledgehammer89]

... and we are thrilled to announce Xcode for iPad.

 

[Erendiox]

As an iOS developer, it's always encouraging to see Swift grow and become more and more available to the next generation of programmers. This is good news.

 

[jonnysods]

Man I hope they still push teaching trades to people. So many trades colleges have closed us around here. Cant put plumbing or electrical in a building using swift!

 

[Rogifan]

They make it sound way to easy. Some people’s brains are wired for coding but a lot are not. If you’re someone who didn’t/doesn’t excel at math in school I think learning to code will be more difficult. I don’t think anyone can code.

 

[Avieshek]

They should enter the next big markets like India so, Swift isn't left out. If they are real serious about it.

 

[macguru212]

They make it sound way to easy. Some people’s brains are wired for coding but a lot are not. If you’re someone who didn’t/doesn’t excel at math in school I think learning to code will be more difficult. I don’t think anyone can code.

Apple is brilliant at marketing.

 

[JoJoCal19]

They make it sound way to easy. Some people’s brains are wired for coding but a lot are not. If you’re someone who didn’t/doesn’t excel at math in school I think learning to code will be more difficult. I don’t think anyone can code.

I agree that not everyone can "get" coding, but there are TONS of people who are great at it, and have been successful, and haven't done math beyond high school basics. I know plenty myself. I have talked to people who are doing MSCS degrees, even at like GT, who say the degrees and crazy math are definitely not needed to code.

 

[guzhogi]

Man I hope they still push teaching trades to people. So many trades colleges have closed us around here. Cant put plumbing or electrical in a building using swift!

I agree. So sad that the trades are kind of looked down upon in my community, yet many of them having starting salaries far above some 4-year college degrees. Bring back wood shop & car shop in high schools, as well as electrical & plumbing in college. I've heard stories about how these shop classes were the only thing some kids looked forward to at school.

 

[Zirel]

They make it sound way to easy. Some people’s brains are wired for coding but a lot are not. If you’re someone who didn’t/doesn’t excel at math in school I think learning to code will be more difficult. I don’t think anyone can code.

This is untrue.

Programming is basically using the pattern recognition capacity of our brains.

Which is something anybody can do.

Of course some people can’t learn to program, can’t learn anything because it’s easier to turn off their brains and watch junk TV all day.

 

[Rogifan]

I agree that not everyone can "get" coding, but there are TONS of people who are great at it, and have been successful, and haven't done math beyond high school basics. I know plenty myself. I have talked to people who are doing MSCS degrees, even at like GT, who say the degrees and crazy math are definitely not needed to code.

Maybe so but I don’t think everyone is suited for it. That’s where I disagree with Tim Cook. I don’t think everyone needs to learn to code. But then he’s also one who thinks apps are the future of everything so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he wants everyone to code.

 

[jonnysods]

I agree. So sad that the trades are kind of looked down upon in my community, yet many of them having starting salaries far above some 4-year college degrees. Bring back wood shop & car shop in high schools, as well as electrical & plumbing in college. I've heard stories about how these shop classes were the only thing some kids looked forward to at school.

It's going to leave a big hole in the workforce in a few years. I won't ever hang any expectations on my kids as to what they do when they get out of school, but if I could encourage them in a trade they will never be out of work.

 

[Rogifan]

This is untrue.

Programming is basically using the pattern recognition capacity of our brains.

Which is something anybody can do.

Of course some people can’t learn to program, can’t learn anything because it’s easier to turn off their brains and watch junk TV all day.

Why does everyone need to learn to code? I’ll bet you most people who do programming for a living are good at math or it came easy to them in school. That’s been my experience with people I work with who code.

 

[jayducharme]

I teach electronic media at a community college, and coding is definitely a weak spot for students. Especially in the game design class, they have big ideas but no ability to implement them. I've had to find ways to minimize the amount of programming they need, but that tends to simplify what they can accomplish. I've played with Swift only briefly, but this initiative could be really beneficial in my case.

 

[jerryk]

I agree that not everyone can "get" coding, but there are TONS of people who are great at it, and have been successful, and haven't done math beyond high school basics. I know plenty myself. I have talked to people who are doing MSCS degrees, even at like GT, who say the degrees and crazy math are definitely not needed to code.

Math requirement depends upon what you are building. If it is a simple app, then maybe not. If you are moving to something more advance, and higher paying, like ML or AI, definitely. I spent quite a bit of time reading math texts when I was getting my MS in CS, and I still do decades later.

 

[D.T.]

Why does everyone need to learn to code? I’ll bet you most people who do programming for a living are good at math or it came easy to them in school. That’s been my experience with people I work with who code.

I'll have to find the post, it was a very astute assessment of how learning some coding basics (maybe not specifically Swift and/or iOS) helps to build a better foundation for thinking skills like: analyzing a problem, defining a solution, application of logic, rule systems, debugging an issue.

For people with an affinity for it, they get a start on a career path, for people who pursue other paths, they gain some knowledge that's applicable to all sorts of professions and life skills.

Depending on your specific specialty-within-the-field, the math requirements can go from little-to-none to _extensive_ understanding of various math principles.

Hahaha, I'm on the exact same page as @jerryk

Math requirement depends upon what you are building. If it is a simple app, then maybe not. If you are moving to something more advance, and higher paying, like ML or AI, definitely. I spent quite a bit of time reading math texts when I was getting my MS in CS, and I still do decades later.

Yeah, I was involved in some project work around computer vision/AR/physics modeling for an SDK, there was a _little_ math involved

 

[jerryk]

I question the value of learning Swift. It is a platform unique language and closely tied to the Apple ecosystem. Great if you want to build Apple apps.

But, IMHO opinion, you are better teaching people something like Python or even javascript. Something that can be run on any platform and has applicability far beyond the Apple ecosystem. Something that will help someone build a career in development, which I thought was the goal of these colleges.

Once you have the basics down, you can always add skills in platform specific tools and languages like Xcode and Swift.

 

[NinjaHERO]

It sounds very interesting. I don't know anything about coding. But I guess that's the point. I should check it out.

 

[Blackstick]

If you learn the fundamentals of Python, you can code for more platforms and the basic knowledge you have will easily translate to Swift and other "specialized" languages. That being said, I have met community college students who don't take their education seriously... and coding is a lot of initial frustration, road blocks, thinking about the problem in a different way, canoodling over it, etc... I'm not sure comm. college students have the perseverance for it in especially large numbers. There are brilliant people at these schools - but also, quite frankly, a lot of burnouts who never excelled in high school and ended up in the next place by lack of options. These folks can become radiology technicians and out-earn the software engineers in my company with less education hassle and less chance of outsourcing.

A brain that is logical and excels in math could be predisposed to being a talented software engineer, but heavy math is not always required, it largely depends on what you're developing.

 

[D.T.]

I question the value of learning Swift. It is a platform unique language and closely tied to the Apple ecosystem. Great if you want to build Apple apps.

Once you have the basics down, you can always add skills in platform specific tools and languages like Xcode and Swift.

Yeah, I always tell people, you know, "the kids" who are interested in programming to learn core concepts, and learn how to implement those with a language outside of any kind of framework/DSL context. (A variant of this mantra is learn-the-language-not-the-framework). Immersing someone into the vast complexity of an IDE like XCode is tricky.

But, IMHO opinion, you are better teaching people something like Python ...

Yes!

... or even javascript.

Dear god, no.

 

[chmarch]

Does anyone know of the best way to learn how to program a macOS app with Swift?
Everything I can find is just focused on iOS, yes I love the iPhone, but I want to learn
how to create desktop applications first! Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[TheRealDGD]

This is untrue.

Programming is basically using the pattern recognition capacity of our brains.

Which is something anybody can do.

Of course some people can’t learn to program, can’t learn anything because it’s easier to turn off their brains and watch junk TV all day.

We all can't be firemen nor want to be.... that's what makes us different as a HUMANS and allows for diversity...