Dev90X: Zero to App in 90 Days Jack Cotton-Brown

The 90 days has finally come to an end. In the beginning it felt like an endless amount of time but the end has really snuck up on me quickly. I want this final episode to be the one episode everyone listens to. This is where I summarise and illustrate the most important lessons I’ve learned over the past 90 days.


90 Days: This is just the tip of the ice-berg.
Success and failure is not binary.
Yes, my Handstand App was ambitious for a beginner.
Partnering on projects with other people multiplies the complexity of getting things done.
Coding work requires longer periods of un-distracted focus.
Certain genres of music help immensely in getting into a good flow state.
Shiny object syndrome for learning resources is totally normal, and happens to almost everyone.
The best learning resources are structured resources that you can complete from start to finish.
iOS development is hard. Both for beginners and experienced developers alike.
Keeping a simple approach to learning is better.
Allow for rest when needed.
Life does, and certainly WILL get in the way. Expect that.
Don’t hold your personal project too close to your heart.
DO show the world what you’re working on.
I spent over 100 hours just getting my audio online for this podcast.
Bali is a tough place to find focus.
I probably averaged just 4 hours of actual productivity per day. 7 days per week.
I probably left about 50% of my potential on the table
Pacing is important when it comes to learning iOS development (and software engineering in general).
Learning ABOUT iOS development is almost just as important as LEARNING iOS development.
Yes, being a purely native iOS developer is still a very much viable option.
Building apps is NOT just about code.
Developer machines do well to have a larger SSD. At least 512GB.
How long does it take to learn this?
It took me around 20 days to find my feet in iOS development.
Learn from BOTH easy resources, AND hard resources. Progressively overload yourself.
A podcast is a POWERFUL form of public accountability.
Set goals and deadlines to stay on track.
Jack’s final hack: Keep it fun! It’s a marathon so you should enjoy the journey!

Checking out... I will do more updates in the future, but it’s time for me to take a break from podcasting. Thanks for listening everyone, I hope you learned something new!

Discussion:


Youtube is dangerous. If you can avoid touching it for learning, it’s better.

Progress Update:


Did my breathwork practice. Inspiration and realisations ensued.
Lecture 12 Stanford iOS (This one is a long one!)
Working through the final lectures of Stanford iOS now, and will continue on with Hacking with Swift after this.
I find myself procrastinating the Stanford lectures a bit because it’s hard for me right now.

Final life update:


Rainy season has arrived in Bali.
Working with Dylan on the breathwork app.
Feeling about 80% burnt out.
My next challenge is to recover my energy and vitality.

dev90x.com

Discussion:


Unwrap is finished, now it’s time to finish off Stanford.
Stanford is much harder, and still above my ability level.
I learned a lot from Unwrap, and I feel like it was the perfect glossary of the language fundamentals.
Setting my sights on 100 Days of SwiftUI

Progress Update:


Finished Optionals on Unwrap, and finished Unwrap!
Finished Lecture 11 of Stanford iOS.
Running at probably 80% burnt-out. Excited to take some real down-time.
Learning how important a larger SSD is for development.
Turns out that having tough workouts every morning is eating away at my energy during the day a little.

I feel like I just need to come home and powernap during the middle of the day.



dev90x.com

Discussion:


A bundle size oriented approach to a content based app.

Progress Update:


Finished Protocols in Unwrap - up to the last section on Optionals.
Mapped out a data budget for the app binary - targeting a binary that is under 200mb with video and audio content.

200mb is a download threshold for allowing downloads over cellular
It’s also a good idea to ship smaller apps for download UX


Figured out that we can get 100 minutes of mp4 content to fit in around 50mb - which should take care of the “60 second explanations” within budget.
Learned how Duolingo does their animations
Checked out a bunch of the most popular cocopods packages
Watching benchmark tests for the new M1 Pros and Max’s
Checking out the open source Unwrap app source files to learn from the architecture. Protocol oriented programming.
Checked out Dylan’s new villa - which will be the new office/work space.
Chilled out and relaxed a bit with Dylan.

dev90x.com

Discussion:


Going from easy materials to hard materials.
Keeping things fun.
In order to grow, you need to move out of your comfort zone.
The way you do one thing, is the way you do many things.
Realising it’s ok to need someone to push you a little.

Progress Update:


Finished Classes in Unwrap. Onto Protocols.
Adjusting to hard morning workouts.

dev90x.com

Discussion:


Halloween was fun.
Got stuck in a traffic jam for 40 minutes at 4am on my way home.
You don’t need alcohol to party.
Final week of the podcast.

Progress Update:


Wrote a simple coding question to the Hacking with swift community, and after writing it out, immediately realised the answer. Lesson learned - ask dumb questions and you might just answer the question yourself.
More lessons from Unwrap - it turns out that classes do in fact always need initialisers and memberwise initialisers are only available for structs.
Still curious as to how this compares with Protocols.

dev90x.com