Former Starbucks Worker Says Attending Apple's Developer Academy Was 'Opportunity of My Life'

[Substance90]

Well that changes....nothing. If you think it's stupid to learn iOS programming for a living I've got an entire floor of 200+ coders (all earning well over $70K to start) I've got some bad news for here at work....

The point is almost every major business has an App. The app itself is not what the company relies on for income, but merely serves as an extension to get to the services this company offers.

I do agree that macOS Appstore is a dead fish thought.

If you're looking to get employed, sure. Earning a living by selling your own app? Better give up hope.

"I'm counting strictly native Objective-C/Swift apps and not cross-platform apps because they aren't developed on a Mac or with Mac based tools anyway." This is another straight out lie (I say lie because you claim to have first hand knowledge). There are multiple cross platform tools for iOS/tvOS... that run on the Mac. Unity is an example of a cross platform tool running on macOS.

I'm not saying there aren't such tools. I myself develop Qt apps on a Macbook. All I'm saying is that most companies targeting multiple platforms rarely develop on a Mac.

Anyway, I guess I should have been more clear that my comments were about learning programming within the Apple ecosystem with the intent of creating your own products and not about generally getting employed or selling consulting services.

 

[NT1440]

If you're looking to get employed, sure. Earning a living by selling your own app? Better give up hope.

Agreed, but that was the entire point of what I was saying.

 

[rugmankc]

Wow, the negativity on MR continues to amaze me. Can't we just be happy for the guy. He seems to be. One's happiness isn't always tied to their income.

It would be nice if MR followed up on his progress in a year or so.

Hope he does well.

 

[NoNothing]

If you're looking to get employed, sure. Earning a living by selling your own app? Better give up hope.


I'm not saying there aren't such tools. I myself develop Qt apps on a Macbook. All I'm saying is that most companies targeting multiple platforms rarely develop on a Mac.

Anyway, I guess I should have been more clear that my comments were about learning programming within the Apple ecosystem with the intent of creating your own products and not about generally getting employed or selling consulting services.

Most of my friends using Unity are on Mac based systems doing cross platform work. In the mobile world, Mac development is very common even when multiple platforms are targeted.

When it comes to being an Indie developer, life is amazingly difficult REGARDLESS of platform(s) targeted and most small indie ideas NEVER even make it to market yet along turn a profit. So based on that, what was the point of your comment then?

 

[aloshka]

Why is he touching the screen. It's not touchscreen.

 

[C DM]

Why is he touching the screen. It's not touchscreen.

Seems like someone is pointing at something that's on the screen (without even necessarily touching it).

 

[diipii]

"SECTION 9

(Scholarship)

Apple has made a number of scholarships equal to 5% of the students admitted to the Developer Academy, in accordance with the final ranking.

All other students admitted will receive scholarships from Regione Campania, in accordance with the Agreement signed between the University and Regione Campania the 22 November 2016, based on the applicable European regulations (see European Social Fund regulations). "

This from the application blurb for this year. It looks like Apple is paying for only 5% of students. The rest getting funding from an organisation trying to revitalise the Naples area and possibly getting their funding from the EEC.

 

[Substance90]

Most of my friends using Unity are on Mac based systems doing cross platform work. In the mobile world, Mac development is very common even when multiple platforms are targeted.

Sorry but your friends (who use a Mac for Unity work) are hardly a representative sample. That's not how statistics work.

 

[atmenterprises]

And, Apple is destined to fill the world with apps developed by people who have no classical training in Computer Science.

Wait until he has to figure out load balance issues on his server or how to properly semaphore his code to have shared data among different threads. Nothing beats a good Comp Sci background (including the Computer Ethics courses) for these things.

Sure Apple, "Anyone can code" but "very few know how to write software."

Or you could learn from doing like I did and not incur any college debt. And build a successful career in the process.

Do you ever think folks without classical training are often better prepared to think outside the box? I do.

 

[recoil80]

I just read on an italian paper that this guy is one of the winners of the WWDC scholarship, so he'll attend the conference together with 23 guys from Napoli's academy.