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Why is Facebook's app so much better lately? Ask Big Nerd Ranch
Facebook's official iOS app has been improving by leaps and bounds lately. First it went native, and then added a series of great new features and redesigned elements piece by piece. In fact, if you were a conspiracy theorist, you might think that Facebook was getting a little help -- and in this case, you'd be right. AllThingsD reports that Facebook has made a deal with the popular iOS dev camp Big Nerd Ranch to provide a weeklong, 40-hour crash course on iOS development to any interested employees. More than 450 of Facebook's employees have gone through the course (mostly software engineers, but not exclusively), and about two-thirds of them have focused on Android rather than iOS. But in general, the deal shows just how important mobile platforms are to Facebook, and if you've been watching the official app lately, you can see just what a great effect it's had. It's worth noting, too, that this is a testament to Big Nerd Ranch and its ability to teach this stuff. I've enjoyed talks from Aaron Hillegass at a few conferences, and our own Brett Terpstra is a huge fan of The Ranch's courses. If you're an iOS developer (or just an aspiring one), it's worth looking into the available programs. For the rest of us, we'll just enjoy the results their teachings, and this vastly superior Facebook iOS experience.
MacTech 2011: What keeps Aaron Hillegass up at night
Big Nerd Ranch founder Aaron Hillegass took the stage at this week's MacTech Conference 2011, and his talk was labeled, simply, "Going Mobile." That's a big topic, so after going through a few reasons why business and individuals might be for and against making mobile apps (all pretty standard discussion in the industry around the App Store), he discussed his concerns about the mobile industry; the things that "keep me up late at night." What followed were a few questions (mostly unanswered) that Hillegass has been thinking about, relevant to IT professionals, developers and really anyone who's used Apple's mobile products. Hillegass' talk was surprisingly honest -- he tackled quite a few issues during the short speech, some of which will likely take a long while for everyone to figure out. He started by asking how developers can benefit from the "power struggles in the industry." So far, Hillegass said, Apple, Google and others have benefited from app developers. Apple has sold a staggering number of iPhones, thanks in part to the hard work of app developers. Of course, Apple has compensated those developers, some very well. But Hillegass wonders if the relationship could go the other way. Instead of making developers work for Apple and then even harder to make their apps compatible on Android and other platforms, is there a way to make that competition between the platform companies work for developers? Hillegass didn't have an answer just yet. He also talked about the death of privacy, pointing out that Apple, developers, and humanity in general are collecting mountains of data all the time. What we all us it for? He suggested first that maybe we just didn't need it -- maybe creating too much data, just like creating trash in real life, would adversely affect our environment in ways we didn't suspect. Hillegass then flipped the other way, and suggested that maybe just agreeing amongst ourselves that privacy was finally dead and actually using that data to make the world a better place would be more helpful than hurtful after all. The relatively tame example he gave was about movie theater previews and how, because they were usually targeted at the audience in the theater, are often more interesting than TV commercials. But Hillegass hinted at bigger things -- he seemed to suggest that letting go of privacy might open up a lot more doors, even if he himself didn't know yet what those were. The talk got deeper from there. Hillegass wondered if instead of dealing with reality directly, our work with Apple's devices and computers in general was putting us in touch with a sort of "simulacrum" of reality. Instead of meeting with friends and family, we were communicating via Facebook profiles and social networking services. Hillegass wondered if the small rewards of games prevented us from really committing to achieving something great. He shared a story about reading Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of NIMH to his son, and realizing that while he loved the book as a kid, his attention span had shrunk since then -- even he wasn't able to sit through long passages of description without a lot of action. "My attention span is shrinking," said Hillegrass. "I think that's a problem." And with almost a tone of fear and anxiety, Hillegass wondered how humanity will keep its capacity for empathy when, thanks to our vast networks of communication, we can often be surrounded by people who are exactly like us. He pointed out that most of the people in the room here at MacTech looked and acted very much the same, and said that because of the Internet, people could find communities of like-minded individuals more quickly and easily than ever. Is that a good thing necessarily? He didn't know. Finally, Hillegass pointed out that because of how quickly mobile applications and technology are changing and improving, users and developers are involved in what's basically an evolving relationship. He told the story of the cheetah and the gazelle, and why evolution has made both animals faster over the years -- gazelles who aren't fast enough will get eaten by the faster cheetahs, and cheetahs who don't run won't get food they need. In fact, things have moved so far, said Hillegass, that cheetahs can't even eat too much once they do catch a gazelle, because it will slow them down in the future. Users, too, are getting more and more demanding of mobile apps, just as developers are getting better and better tools to make them. When the App Store first started, fart apps were "good enough" to make money, but the bar has risen higher and higher over the years. For all of his questions, Hillegass did end on a positive note -- he told the story of Beethoven the composer, who made some of the greatest musical pieces for piano ever written, and Broadwood, an inventor who improved the piano, expanding its versatility and range even as Beethoven pushed him to do more with his genius. Developers in the room, said Hillegass, were the Broadwoods of the world. And he and they were both working on apps that would then be used by Beethovens to make something really incredible. Apps and the app market are such a growing entity at this point in time that it's hard to see just where they'll end up, even a few years in the future. But for all of his questions, Hillegass was convinced that the progress was worth it. "We are trying to create the piano for the next Beethoven," he said as he finished his talk.
Voices that Matter iPhone: Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway on the lifecycle of an iPhone app
Aaron Hillegass and Joe Conway of Big Nerd Ranch kicked off the Voices that Matter iPhone conference in Seattle this weekend with an overview keynote detailing the lifecycle of an iPhone app from a developer's point of view. The two are trainers and consultants for developers working on iPhone apps, and they laid out how an iPhone app is made, from start to finish, giving tips and suggestions to the developers in attendance on how they've developed their own process. Read on to learn the steps they take at Big Nerd Ranch in making an iPhone app, and both how and how not to perform them.
TUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: Aaron Hillegass
More coverage of TUAW's inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer. On my last day at Big Nerd Ranch, I got a chance to sit down with with the biggest nerd at the ranch, Aaron Hillegass, and talk about nerds, NextStep, the iPad and more. Aaron has a unique vantage point on all things Apple, and it was definitely an enjoyable conversation. If you continue reading after the first video, there's a second short video of Aaron and I out at the site of the future Big Nerd Ranch.
iPhone Dev 101: Useful Cocoa Development Resources
It has been a while since the last iPhone Dev 101 post (and I must apologize for that -- sometime life can get in the way of different things, and this was one of those times). In this Dev 101 post, I want to take you through a few of my favorite resources for Cocoa/iPhone development. Some of these resources are books, while others are sites, but all of the resources are valuable to up and coming developers (and experiences developers) alike. BooksSome books are just invaluable and couldn't be replaced with another. Aaron Hillegass' Cocoa Programming for Mac is just that book. Currently in its 3rd edition, the book gives you much of the Cocoa programming information that you need to program for both the Mac and iPhone. There are only a few subtle differences in programming for these platforms, namely the use of the Cocoa Touch. If you ever have the chance, going to one of the Big Nerd Ranch Cocoa programming classes gives you the ability to learn Cocoa hands-on. Another title that is useful to beginning iPhone developers is the Beginning iPhone Development book. This book has a useful approach to stepping into the world that is programming on iPhone. It talks about numerous topics including UI design, Quartz, and OpenGL. Also covered in the book are APIs like CoreLocation and interfacing with the camera. If you already know Cocoa and a little about iPhone development, Erica Sadun's iPhone Developer Cookbook is a great jumping off point to start development. She assumes, however, that you already understand Cocoa. Continue reading to learn about more valuable books, websites, and resources for iPhone/Mac developers.
MacTech's 25 most influential, version 2007
MacTech has released their MacTech 25 for the second year in a row-- it's a list of the top 25 most influential people in the Mac community (as selected by the community itself), and it reads like a who's who of people doing great stuff : John Gruber, the suave-looking Aaron Hillegass and Brent Simmons all make return appearances. This year they chose everyone who's ever programmed for MarsEdit (as Daniel Jalkut is happy to say), not to mention both co-founders of Rogue Ameoba, Paul Kafasis and Alex Lagutin.Who's missing? Anyone from Apple-- MacTech specifically left them off the list to make sure they didn't hog the Spotlight, so to speak. They say that Apple employees are allowed to be put in the Honorable Mentions section, but as far as I can tell, while Leo Laporte, David Pogue and Merlin Mann all made it, no one from Apple actually did. Better get cracking on those influencing techniques for next year, guys.
