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Apple Reveals 'Swift Playgrounds' Educational Coding App for iPad
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Desperately? Really? Why don't you just wait until we start hearing previews from developers? Why would someone possibly have desperation about this form a 2-minute demo? SMH.
You were seeing the beginning lessons -- small snippets of code. I'm confident that the training wheels rapidly come off in the more advanced lessons, where people will be writing larger blocks of code from scratch.
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Desperately? Really? Why don't you just wait until we start hearing previews from developers? Why would someone possibly have desperation about this? SMH.
You were seeing the beginning lessons -- small snippets of code. I'm confident that the training wheels rapidly come off in the more advanced lessons, where people will be writing larger blocks of code from scratch.
It's an app. It will be available for download from the app store. It will NOT be part of the default software.
Was this just a bad joke?
I don't think it will be a problem unless they teach us to program that planet of the apes. ...Wait a minute... Statue of Liberty... that was OUR planet! YOU BLEW IT UP! YOU MANIACS!
Yes, I desperately hope Apple doesn't believe this.
We shall see what it actually delivers. I'd like it to be more (and better) than it appeared to be in the demo.
But I won't get my hopes up, since a demo for a free (yet strategic) product would usually show off its best features! There's no reason to hold back until it's closer to release.
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I'm sure kids are just as smart as ever - the only thing that can harm them is negative cultural influences, or being treated as stupid (if not given avenues to discover their own intelligence).
However, can you please clarify your meaning? Do you mean the audience shouldn't have responded so positively, or something else? There was a point in the presentation where I thought the audience had to be strongly prompted by the presenter before they would clap or cheer - IIRC this was it.
My comment was exactly this, sure this is a cool toy and I am all for making toys to get young people involved, but the assumed importance by the presenter of this learn programming tool when talking to a room full of experienced programmers was unbelievable. There was no focus on the new macOS file system, no real mention of Xcode improvements, no real mention of improvements that will help developers. In essence Tim Cook was speaking to a room full of experienced developers and made no compelling case for them, the one time of the year where developers are supposed to be the focus.
You have to consider though that this was only the Keynote. There's usually a state of the union session after it that goes into much more depth and there's a lot of individual sessions on these topics (like the filesystem)
The most exciting part of the demo was the special keyboard for programming. That was pretty slick.
Whether or not you agree with the implementation (of the app, generally), this is a step in the right direction. And no, it doesn't have to mean the death of the Mac, you old curmudgeons.
Whether or not you agree with the implementation (of the app, generally), this is a step in the right direction. And no, it doesn't have to mean the death of the Mac, you old curmudgeons.
Art is one thing, coding quite another. If the coding is done well enough to provide a functional app that performs a task I would like to complete, then I have no need to be that condescending.
What exactly is it you hope that Apple doesn't believe?
Why did this send you into a state of desperation?
Of course there's more! That's why they call it a demo. This was only about 2% of the content of the Keynote.
What do you think should have been demonstrated? And, BTW, little will be held back to release. Developers are notorious for giving copious details of the app will be available shortly. You really don't have to be desperate about anything.
You seem to forget: far more people were watching the presentation live, and many more have watched it in the last 24 hours. Many of them are not programmers. Some are educators, and many are parents.
And I'm confused what you thought you saw that was beneath the technical audience to do. Clearly, one could write raw Swift code into the app and run it. If you've read the literature, there is social networking for sharing snippets of code.
RTFD. There was no need to focus on the file system. It won't be available until 2017.
That's typically done in the State of the Platform presentation, or in Xcode-specific presentations. The demonstration of the Swift playgrounds had no impact on those other presentations.
Oh, please. Tim took about 45 seconds to introduce the concept, and the demo took about 6 minutes. Explain exactly how you think that crippled the week-long WWDC presentation. We desperately hope you can explain yourself.
I think the LOGO-like environment is an excellent way to see programming concepts and a way to show how the iPad can be a full-blown development environment in a year or two. Further, it shows a different way to think of the iPad as a content-creation device. If you can't stand the seven minutes, you should have fast-forwarded over it.
Yes, I re-watched the Keynote, and the presenter said "Wouldn't it have been cool to have this when we were learning to program?" and everyone's thinking "no, we learned it just fine without it." So then she prompts them "come on all you students" (implied: if you're a good student you will agree) and the audience finally claps. The girl in the audience I caught a glimpse of in the webcast had a stern face while clapping - she wasn't actually excited.
This would have been the most exciting part of the keynote for me, if it appeared to be as revolutionary as Tim Cook claimed it was. Instead, it appears to be the biggest disappointment. I'm glad Apple's bringing coding to the iPad, but the image they're projecting (and I'm afraid maybe the reality) is that they're waiting on third party developers (e.g. Serif http://www.dpreview.com/news/017655...ad-early-build-showcased-at-apple-s-wwdc-2016 ) to make any iPad a "Pro." I use the iPad as a tool more than a toy.
How ironic that Apple took possibly their strongest 'useful tool' iPad use-case and made it look like a toy. I'm not saying it's an easy task, but what we need a tool (and language(s)) that streamlines the task, not cutsie tutorials. Hopefully this is where Apple's headed.
Uh....You aware everything you just mentioned is what the Platform State of the Union, and the ENTIRE rest of the conference is for right?
Seriously, everyone in attendance knows the keynote is for the cameras, the CONFERENCE is for them. Download the WWDC app, favorite the hundreds of videos of sessions, watch them, then try to make this ridiculous claim again.
Everyone??? I heard quite a few people saying, "Gee, that's a swell way to see how to easily integrate the gyroscope sensor into my code. I could get add that to the example code and get it running in about 30 seconds. That is tons easier than compiling on my Mac and moving the app over to my iPad. Win!"
Perhaps you weren't listening very well.
And you conclude... what... from this one anecdotal response? Maybe she had gas.
BTW: you have failed again to explain your "Yes, I desperately hope Apple doesn't believe this" comment. No explanation for what "this" is, why you think that Apple doesn't believe it, or why you're desperate.
What environment do you think allows comparable access to rapidly code, run, debug, and understand concepts on a single tablet device?
Why are you jumping to conclusions before seeing more than a 4-minute demo of the tool? Did you notice that there is a session completely dedicated to the iPad Swift Playgrounds? Perhaps you could wait to suspend judgment until that session has been presented and you have viewed the video.
In the mean time, you can explain to us what you're desperately hoping that Apple doesn't believe.
Bingo. And, BTW, you don't even need the app or any iOS device to view the videos. They're available in https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016 . The pages will get fleshed out with videos throughout the week. And -- note to JustThinkin' -- you can find out all about the new Apple File System by viewing this video when it is uploaded. Claiming this should have been covered in the Keynote was just silly.
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Yep, the State of the Union was much better. But usually the Keynote has solid hints that are more fully explained later on. After listening to both, it is clear to me that Tim Cook absolutely does not understand software development or the underlaying technology the way Jobs did. Tom Cook sees and approves what we can understand and I think that is a big problem for a technology company like Apple.
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Nope previous Keynotes have been the connector between the underlaying technology and the resulting user functionality. This Keynote forgot to mention the underlaying technology and focused only the the resulting user functionality. Why? I believe that Tim does not understand the underlaying technology. Period. He did not know what was so great about the new file system, etc. This is a big loss.
Or maybe Tim (and AAPL in general) has simply re-purposed the WWDC Keynote. I think you intended "he" rather than "we" in that last sentence. In any case, I categorically disagree. Like many people, I view the State of the Platform presentation far more interesting anyhow.
And now you're just repeating yourself. The fact that it has functioned this way in the past doesn't mean it's the smartest way to do so in the future.
If there is any specific technical detail someone wants to find, it's easy to see the listing of all of the public presentations.
We'd have to be on the BoD to know that, and then we couldn't talk about it.
Why do you think AAPL should be locked on that particular focus. Make your case!
Rather than repeat yourself, give some cogent examples where you think this is the case.
Perhaps you are ignorant: the new file system is NOT part of this year's releases. It's coming out in 2017.
Why do you think any details are important now? Tim provided plenty of details for someone who thinks they need to get introduced to the new file system now. Personally, the only think I need to do is to listen to what Siracusa says about it.
One thing is clear: the new FS will require new low-leveling structuring of the metadata. Changing back and forth to the new FS format will be a bit of pain. OTOH, I am still astonished with the compatibility-job that Apple did with the PowerPC to Intel conversion. It was magical! If anyone can pull off this massive change, it will be AAPL.
AFAICT, the only reason to mention it now is to give the long-term planners some advance notice of the 2017 change. There are no details that make any difference to programmers now. But I will be paying attention to this presentation when it's available -- and listen to what Siracusa says on the Accidental Tech Podcast. YMMV.
Incorrect. Your one example of Apple FS is a failure. In order to make a convincing case, you'd have to give 3-4 good examples. Make your case...
seems to me it's only because it will need IOS10 to run? or they schedule the public beta & launch coordinated with IOS10 release dates just by coincidence?
but actually gen4 iPads are upgradeable to IOS10.
Typically, emulators require more resources than other apps to run. It would make no sense to presume something different than what Apple said in their announcement. Apple is quite clear what iPads will be compatible with the Swift Playgrounds app in their press release. If @swm wants to double-check, he should talk to Apple directly -- and report back what he learns.
These doom and gloom scenarios never ever ever make any sense.
When you develop you need screen real estate. You also need access to other programs to make the art and UI of your application.
Computers aren't going away, Macs aren't going away. Playgrounds on the iPad is a very convenient feature but its not for serious development, you'll still need a computer for that.
I can only comment on what I know at the time. Since I still can't see this video - and I presume you can't either - we have to stick with what we have for now.
I said that I hope Apple doesn't think kids today are stupid, and I clarified this in my follow up comment. If they do we're in a heap of trouble because this attitude would ripple into all of their product lines - which have a huge impact on society as a whole. Our beliefs affect what we do.
The app is pretty amazing. I love the new keyboard... after a few minutes it just works so well. Now I hate the standard iPad keyboard.
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Sure it can... use an MDM... haven't tried yet without.
Then please tell us: what tablet platforms out there let you modify, compile, and run native code on the fly? I don't know of any; perhaps you do.
The video from Session 408 has been up for at least 72 hours. If you had bothered to look at it before commenting, you'd realize that you jumped to completely wrong conclusions. We were desperately hoping that you would have addressed your errors by now.
You misunderstood it.
Next time, wait until you see a longer demo before jumping to conclusions. The WWDC keynote video only showed a tiny fraction what's available in Swift Playgrounds. And -- as the session demonstrates -- it's possible to use the game API for learning projects that have nothing whatsoever to do with gaming.