Hey everyone, names Chris. I have been a wordpress website developer for the past 8-10 years and really looking to set it up and learn a high level programming language. I chose Swift since i have always been interested in creating apps. Im just not where to start and I get a little intimidated when i see a lot of code on the page. Im using swift playground right now then will go to codecademy.
One thing i realized i tend to lose concentration when i code or if i run into a problem it frusterates me and wants me want to stop coding for that moment. Has anyone going through and can help me out?
From my experience I would say that you have to be prepare that it's sometimes hard and frustrating. I'm myself a novice, so I still remember trying to comprehend documentation for simple map method (what is that U, T, rethrows etc.) few years ago.
What really helps with struggle is finding good methodical learning material which suits you. My beginner path was to complete 100 Days of Swift (UIKit), then 100 Days of Swift (SwiftUI) from Hacking with Swift and then all materials from Point-Free. I have found those 3 sources most methodical, with nice progression and great exercises to do after episodes. They have in common that all topic begins with clean project so you learn whole process. I believe that is much better then tutorials which are base on some prepared "starting point".
But this are just learning resources. In the end to programming in Swift you have to programming in Swift - there is no other way. So what is most important to start with your own project as soon as possible. So after gaining some beginner level knowledge (after 20-30 days of initial learning?) just go and do some basic app for yourself. As crude and simple as possible. Simple command line tool as a helper in your Wordpress dev, REST client for some Wordpress website (it was one of my first app, which I still use), simple widget, etc. At the beginning just don't care about architecture, reusability, code smell, performance. If it works then it works.
Thats really great advice! Thank you...The thing is while i do have wordpress experience i dont have much php or javascript experience, mainly just html / css..Not sure how much that will hinder me learning swift as a first language
The language itself is nice to learn, and the Swift book is quite good I think. There is a little gap (on swift.org, at least as far as I know) when it comes to things around the language itself, e.g. when something is wrong in your configuration for the Swift Package Manager (Package.swift) and the error message is not helpful. Do not despair in those cases, a little search e.g. in the Swift forums might help. Once you get a little grab on how things work and are supposed to be used in Swift, this language is very "rewarding"
So I just searched what "type of learner i am" I got tactical learner with makes a TON of sense looking at my past history.
Tactile If you are a tactile learner, you learn by touching and doing. You understand and remember things through physical movement. You are a "hands-on" learner who prefers to touch, move, build, or draw what you learn, and you tend to learn better when some type of physical activity is involved. You need to be active and take frequent breaks, you often speak with your hands and with gestures, and you may have difficulty sitting still.
In you guys experience would this effect my ability to code since im more hands on, OR is there a way I can use this to my advantage?
You are absolutely correct, I was never the best at math in school, I actually don't like it, but in my defense i didnt put in much effort....I am doing Swift playground for apple. Do you know of any other ones I can do after i complete the apple one?
Thats actually my plan actually :) - Its funny, I know the lingo, i know about SwiftUI and use that since its mre visual. Im a big researcher so i learn alot from articles. My issue is understanding the code aspect of it at times. Basically I can speak dev but cant write it well.
(BTW: Is coding really that much different from touching real objects?...)