iOS Developer Online Course

Description

You'll begin by learning the fundamentals of iOS app development with Swift and Xcode, Apple's development environment. You'll create your first iOS apps using layouts, views, UIKit, and other tools. Then, using networking and Apple's Grand Central Dispatch and Core Data, you'll progress to building more complex and advanced applications, and you'll be ready to publish your capstone project to the App Store.

Syllabus:

Course 1: Learn Swift Programming

Variables and Types

• Declare variables and constant values with basic Swift types like Bool, Int, Double, and Float
• Access and modify values from variables and constants
• Debug compiler issues related to the incorrect use of variables and constants
• Use escape characters and string interpolation to format variable and constant values within strings.

Operators and expressions

• Compute new values using existing variables and constants.
• Use comparison operators to determine equality between two values.
• Use boolean operators to build expressions that use truth values.

Control Flow

• Write boolean expressions that convey decision making logic.
• Combine boolean expressions with logical operators.
• Utilize boolean expressions alongside if, else-if, and else statements to control the flow of your code’s execution.
• Use switch statements to run code based on multiple values of a single variable.
• Use for, while, and repeat while loops to control the flow of your code’s execution.

Functions

• Encapsulating existing code into reusable functions.
• Properly define and call functions.
• Specify function parameters and return types.
• Differentiate between values that are in-scope and out-of- scope.
• Correctly use local and external parameters.
• Identify parameter types and return types.

Structures and Enum

• Group multiple values together into structs.
• Create instances of structs.
• Add functions (known as methods) to structs.
• Access properties and call methods of structs.
• Define computed properties that calculate their value based on other values..
• Define enums and assign raw values to different cases.
• Use enums in conjunction with switch statements.

Optionals

• Understand when a value can be nil and when to use an optional type.
• Declare variables and constants as explicit or implicitly unwrapped optionals.
• Unwrap optionals both safely and unsafely.
• Use optional chaining and the nil coalescing operator to safely access optional values.

Strings

• Define and manipulate Strings using their built-in properties and methods
• Perform common String operations like concatenation and finding substrings.
• Perform common String manipulation such as adding, removing, and replacing substrings.

Collections

• Store unordered data of the same type using arrays.
• Access and modify array contents.
• Store pairs of keys and values using dictionaries.
• Access and modify dictionary contents.
• Store unordered data of the same type using sets.

Object-Oriented Programming

• Understand the difference between value and reference types, and how this applies to structs and classes.
• Make one class inherit the properties and methods of another class.
• Understand polymorphism - how one type can be substituted for another type, and how this relates to inheritance
• Write classes that conform to the same protocol.
• Add additional functionality to classes using extensions.

 

Course 2: Intro to iOS App Development with Swift

Introduction and Xcode

• Navigate the major components of the Xcode development environment including the Navigator, Debug Area, and Utilities
• Create an Xcode project for a new iOS application
• Express the goals and architecture of the Model View Controller (MVC) design pattern

AutoLayout and Buttons

• Use Storyboards, Xcode’s visual editing tool, to position, size, and configure user interface objects.
• Link user interface objects in a Storyboard to their corresponding controller using IBOutlets.
• Specify callback functions called IBActions that are invoked as a result of user interaction
• Create AutoLayout constraints to ensure UI elements are sized and positioned correctly regardless of device size and dimensions

ViewController and Multiple Views

• Configure application state at the appropriate customizations points in a view’s lifecycle
• Create and navigate multiple-view applications using a UINavigationController
• Manipulate user interface objects by utilizing IBOutlets and IBActions Course Project Pitch Perfect You will create an iPhone app that records audio and plays it back using various audio filters and modes including adjusted rate and pitch, echo, and reverb. 

Delegation and Recording

• Write protocolsto express functionality that can be adopted by Swift classes.
• Use protocols to delegate the responsibilities of a particular task or set of tasks to another object.
• Create and interface with an AVAudioRecorder to capture and save audio with an iOS device’s microphone.
• Use segues to transition between views in an application

Playback and Effects

• Create and configure StackViews which contain and automatically configure layout constraints for its subviews
• Playback audio using objects defined in the AVFoundation framework
• Apply audio playback effects using audio nodes exposed by a custom interface

Suggested Electives

• Version Control with Git.
• GitHub & Collaboration.

Project: Pitch Perfect

You will create an iPhone app that records and plays back audio using various audio filters and modes such as adjusted rate and pitch, echo, and reverb.

 

Course 3: UIKit Fundamentals

Outlets and Actions

• Understand how to connect outlets and actions using only code and graphically using storyboard.
• Use core UIKit classes like UIButton, UILabel and UISwitch.
• Practice debugging problems with IBOutlets and IBActions.

View Presentations and Segues

• See how Apple distinguishes between modal presentation and navigation.
• Learn how to present views modally.
• Use powerful UIKit classes like UIImagePickerController, UIAlertController and UIActivityViewController.

The Delegate Pattern

• Learn how delegates make important connections between the model, view, and controller
• Implement UIKit components that make use of the delegate pattern, UITextField and UITextFieldDelegate
• Demonstrate your understanding by building a series of challenge apps.

Table Views

• Learn the essential UITableViewDelegate and UITableViewDatasource methods.
• Explore the code for several apps with tables, and then implement your own UITableView.
• Practice manipulating table cells

Navigation

• Learn how iOS uses navigation stacks to manage multiple views in an app.
• Create the navigation that enables a user to tap a row of a table and view the details of an item.
• Learn navigation classes like UINavigationControll and UIBarButtonItem.

Suggested Electives

• AutoLayout

Project MemeMe 1.0: The Meme Editor

You will create the first version of the MemeMe app, which allows a user to take a picture and add text to the top and bottom to create a meme. The user will be able to share the photo via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, or email.

Project MemeMe 2.0: The Final Product

You will create an app that allows users to take a picture and add text to the top and bottom to create a meme. The user will be able to share the photo via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, or email.
Memes will be displayed in a tab view that includes two tabs: a table view and a collection view.

 

Course 4: Network Requests and GCD

Making a Network Request

• Express the flow of data from a client to a server when a client makes an HTTP request.
• Create a network request in Swift and receive and consume a data response.
• Switch execution from a background thread to a (main) foreground thread to avoid blocking an app’s UI
• Abide by Apple’s App Transport Security protocol to ensure user safety when access data over a network.
• Download and display an image using a simple network request

Using Web Services and APIs

• Make requests to a web service (API) using documented endpoints and parameters.
• Make a GET request to access data stored on a remote server.
• Use a web service to download JSON data.
• Convert raw byte data into JSON-like data that can be consumed by an app.

Problem Set: JSON Parsing

• Extract values from JSON objects and arrays
• Access data from a locally defined JSON file

Chaining Asynchronous Requests

• Perform multiple network requests in sequence using callbacks and closures.

Authenticating Requests

• Perform an authorization flow that mimics OAuth.
• Authenticate a network request using tokens.
• Secure network requests by ensuring the use of HTTPS
• Make an HTTP POST request to modify data stored by a remote server

Improving Networking with MVC

• Refactor an existing application to separate network functionality into its correct role within the MVC design pattern.
• Create a usable interface that controllers can use to make network requests

Closures Reloaded

• Create closures by assigning functions to a constant or variable
• Specify closure (function) types for use as values and parameters
• Define functions that accept closure parameters
• Use type aliasing to simplify the use of complex types
• Define and use functions within functions

GCD and Queues

• Define and utilize queues for grouping related processes
• Run code asynchronously using Grand Central Dispatch
• Avoid common pitfalls by ensuring the use of the main thread for situations involving UIKit and CoreData

Backgrounding Lengthy Tasks

• Download large files from the network synchronously.
• Download large files from the network asynchronously.
• Use completion handlers to update the user interface after a network request.

Suggested Electives

• iOS Debugging.

Project: On the Map

• You will create an app that includes a map and displays information posted by other students. The map will include pins that indicate where other students have reported studying. Users can see a URL for something the student finds interesting by tapping on the pin. The user can add their own data by posting a string that can be reverse geocoded to a location and a URL.

 

Course 5: Data Persistence

Simple Persistence

• Learn about simple persistence and how to save small pieces of data.
• How to set user preferences, using NSUserDefaults.
• Practice setting simple preferences to an existing app.

iOS File System and Sandboxing

• Learn about the iOS File System, the “sandbox”
• See how to access these files using NSFileManager.
• Use the file manager to save and read a file.

Introducing Core Data

• Meet Core Data, Apple’s framework for managing the data layer.
• Explore what a data layer is.
• Convert a non-Core Data note-taking app to have a Core Data model.

The Core Data Stack

• Set up the classes we need to get Core Data up and running.
• Use the stack to manage model object creation and deletion.
• Persist changes so that data stays put when you restart the app or device.

Simpler Code with Core Data

• Enable user interfaces to reactively update whenever the model changes.
• Set up an NSFetchedResultsController to observe data changes and notify the UI.
• Modify a table view to work with a fetched results controller as its data source.
• Turn on caching to reduce how often apps ask the store for data.

Rounding Out Core Data

• Update the data model and safely migrate user data between versions.
• Work with multiple managed object contexts for different types of tasks.
• Keep the user interface responsive by sending lengthy tasks to a background queue.

Selective Electives

• Objective-C for Swift Developers
• Project 0-C: Interoperability Problem Set (Optional)
• Firebase in a Weekend • Firebase Analytics

Project: Virtual Tourist

• You'll make an app that downloads and saves images from Flickr. Users will be able to drop pins on a map to represent stops on a tour. Users will then be able to download images for the location and save both the images and their association with the pin.

 

Course 6: Final Project

Research

• Brainstorm app ideas and decide on an app and feature list that is realistic and exciting.
• Sketch UI storyboards and outline expected app use cases and flows.
• Research and experiment with APIs, web services, and libraries that could be useful for an app idea.

Build

• Adhere to a proven development process to create quality iPhone and iPad apps.
• Build an app and collect user feedback.
• Fix crashes and bugs to improve the quality of an app.

Reflect

• Reflect on development, what has been learned, and what should change for future development.
• Monitor App Store feedback.

Selective Electives

• Technical Interview Prep.
• Mobile Design Patterns.

Project: You Decide! (Capstone Project)

• This is your chance to show off your iOS Developer skills! You will design your own iOS app for this final project, taking it from the drawing board to the App Store.

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