Aaron Kardell's presentation on mobile development for the COS216 data structures class

1. Mobile Development
(iOS Emphasis)
for Bethel COS216
Aaron Kardell
April 20, 2011

2. Agenda
• Background
• Smartphone Platform Overview
• iOS Development Tools & Program Overview
• iOS Development Tutorial
• Additional Resources
• Career
• Question & Answer
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

3. My Background
• Bethel graduate (2002); Serial Entrepreneur
• Altona Ed -> sold to Pearson
• World Conquest -> sold to SGN
• iGarageSale
•
• Locate My Deal
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

4. Mobile Platform Overview
• Smartphone Platforms in the US:
Platform Language Notes
Objective C requires ramp up time -
iOS Objective C especially syntax and memory management
Android Modern Java* Easiest for Java developers to get started on
Weak SDK tools & libraries; Likely deprecated
BlackBerry J2ME for new BlackBerry platform in 2012
Easy to develop for; lacks broad market
Windows Phone 7 Silverlight / .NET adoption, but appears to have traction
Palm webOS HTML / JavaScript Lacks broad market adoption
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

5. iOS Development Options
• Xcode - standard
Need to use / learn Objective C
• Other cross-platform options**
• Appcelerator Titanium - JavaScript driven, native
controls
• Rhodes - Ruby
• PhoneGap - HTML / JavaScript driven
• Corona - Lua based / Flash-like
• Flash via CS5(???)
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

6. iOS Developer Program
• http://developer.apple.com/ios/
• Required to deploy apps on devices
• $99 / year standard
• $299 / year enterprise
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

7. iOS Developer Program
• Gatekeeper / rejected apps
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

8. App Rejection
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

9. App Rejection
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

10. Tutorial
• Show top rated Italian restaurants near me
using MapKit and Yelp API’s
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

11. Tutorial
• What you’ll need:
• iPhone SDK
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/
• json-framework -
http://code.google.com/p/json-framework/
• Need developer API key from Yelp -
http://www.yelp.com/developers/
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

12. Tutorial
• Tutorial broken down into seven goals
• We’ll move quickly - catch up at:
http://cdn.igaragesaleapp.com/COS216IPhone.zip
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

13. Tutorial
• Goal #1: “Create a project”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

14. Tutorial
• Goal #2: “Show a map control in the app”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

15. Tutorial
• Goal #3: “Zoom map into a fixed point”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

16. Tutorial
• Alt / option key + double-click on an object
name for help
• When in doubt, look for SDK examples for
given objects
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

17. Tutorial
• alloc + retain = release
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

18. Tutorial
• Goal #4: “Zoom map into current location”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

19. Tutorial
• Delegate: assign an object that implements
a protocol to receive notifications /
callbacks
• Protocol: similar to an interface in Java / C#
nomenclature
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

20. Tutorial
• Goal #5: “Query Yelp when map boundaries
change”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

21. Tutorial
• Goal #6: “Update map with annotations
from Yelp results”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

22. Tutorial
• Goal #7: “View details for each annotation”
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

23. Additional Resources
• Websites
• Stack Overflow
• Google Group – iphonedevmn
• Hacker News / Y Combinator
• Local User Groups - Twin Cities
• CocoaHeads
• Mobile Twin Cities
• Lean Startup Meetups
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

24. Career
• Look to differentiate your skills
• Combine deep knowledge in a couple areas with
broad exposure to many
• Consider pros / cons of small vs. large company
• You may have to switch jobs twice in the first 6
years of your career to reach market salary (but
tread carefully)
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

25. Career
• Future of resumes:
• Diminishing value of paper resume
• Value in demonstrating what you’ve done, e.g.:
•Open source project contributions
•github repositories
•Stack Overflow questions answered
•Contributions to sites like Hacker News
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

26. Career
• Seek companies where you can continue to learn
on the job; ask about their:
• Development process
• Design process
• Documentation & testing standards
• Working in teams
• How are roles & responsibilities split?
• Opportunities for continued learning? e.g.
conferences, classes, etc.
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com

27. Question & Answer
• More questions?
akardell [at] gmail.com
651-308-4030
Twitter: @akardell
akardell [at] gmail.com