Course Description

This class is an introduction to iOS development. It introduces Objective-C, still the most-commonly used language in iOS applications, and explores the various services and techniques used by iOS developers.

Meeting hours:

Monday & Thursday 6PM to 9PM One Saturday a month, 9a - 5p. See the schedule.

Open lab time is available to all students during the week at PCS.

Location

PCS Classroom, 1771 NW Pettygrove Street, Ste 140 Portland, OR 97209

Instructor:

Erick Bennett

Email: ebennett@portlandcodeschool.com
Office Hours: Before class on Monday/Thursday 4-6pm, Sundays 12-2pm (except when following Saturday classes).

Teaching assistant: Al Zimmerman

Email: azimmerman@portlandcodeschool.com
Phone (text and voicemail): 503-970-3645
Office Hours: Before class on Monday 4-6pm

Prerequisites

This class has no prerequisites. If you already know an object-oriented language like C++, C#, Java, or JavaScript, you’ll start out ahead.

You will receive email one week prior to class (if you have signed up that early) with work that must be completed prior to the first class.

Schedule and Curriculum

For the most up to date schedule of activities, see the course schedule.

Student Time Commitment

Class duration: 16 weeks with a 2 week holiday break = 18 weeks Class hours: 6 hours per week plus 8 hours per month. Total: 128 hours Homework hours: 20-30 hours per week.

This is an intense, demanding experience. You are learning something that most people take years to learn at their own pace

Assessment Methods

Your progress will be assessed using a variety of methods:

• Attendance - You need to show up and do the work
• Completion of assignments - we will keep track of whether you do what we ask you to do
• Code reviews - we will read and assess your code
• Quizzes - we will ask you questions and evaluate your answers
• Instructor reviews - your instructor will observe your work and take notes
• Peer reviews - we’ll talk to everybody in the class to see how folks are doing on teamwork
• Participation in the community - we will ask you to hang out with your peers, meet people, and report back

We will provide you feedback as you go. If you go on to take additional PCS classes, your Primer work will become part of your PCS records.

Home and Class Work

You will have plenty of opportunities to learn both in the classroom and on your own. Homework will include:

• Completing class assignments to build applications of increasing complexity
• Watching screencasts with experienced lecturers, interactive exercises, and quizzes
• Participating in team projects to build apps
• Participating in team project to discover client requirements, specify, and build a capstone application

Screencasts

You will all have Treehouse accounts assigned to you the week prior to class and you will be assigned screencasts each week. You are required to complete the quizzes and earn the badges. We will review your progress every two weeks to make sure you are on track.

For some of you, screencasts will be a slow experience. Feel free to skip ahead to the quiz for each module to see if you already know what they are teaching. If you have trouble with the quiz, watch the screencasts. Also, speed up the tempo if you can follow along at the faster speed.

Additional requirements

Computer

You need to provide your own Mac OSX computer for this class or rent one from PCS.

Portland Code School highly recommends MacBook Pros running OSX 10.9 or later.

Other Tools

You will be using Xcode as your primary development tool.

You are required to learn and use Git – a distributed version control system. It is complicated, arcane, and difficult to learn. Yet, it is one of the most commonly used and essential to any freelancer. We will start using git in the first week and emphasize its use throughout. You will be required to be able to use git from the command line, but we will most commonly use git from within Xcode.

There will be more tools introduced as the class goes on, but these are good places to start.

Your first assignment will be to install these tools either prior to or during the first session.

Mutual Respect

This class depends upon an atmosphere of mutual respect among students and staff. Together, we create a safe place to listen, learn, speak candidly, and fail safely. This is not a typical college class, it’s a team effort producing a final product: jobs for everyone. You have the opportunity to make deep connections here that you will enjoy the rest of your career.

Students are expected to act at their highest capacity and with mutual respect for each other regardless of age, race, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or prior experience. Instructors are expected to lead in this regard by example.

In a related vein, this class requires work in close proximity to others as we code and debug in pairs and small groups. Good hygiene is mandatory and an additional sign of respect for your colleagues.

Grievances Procedure

Students who observe or experience any behavior on the part of instructors, staff, or students at Portland Code School that does not meet the school’s Code of Conduct should take action. If you experience or perceive a problem, attempt to work it out on your own, if possible, but do not hesitate to bring it privately to the attention of your instructor. If this is unsatisfactory, bring it to the attention of the school Director (Cris Kelly) or Assistant Director (Shawna Scott)

Instructional ADA statement

Students who have a documented disability and require a classroom adjustment or accommodation should contact the instructor and/or the PCS Director prior to the first class session.

Course content and calendar subject to change

The instructor reserves the right to modify course content and/or substitute assignments and learning activities in response to institutional, weather or class situations.

We adjust the class each session to the needs of the current students. We may slow the pace or add additional work, as needed. We also carefully incorporate new technologies as they become significant to your employability. As a result, we often are creating class materials as we go. You will always get advance notice of classwork.

You also get to evaluate us. We use a technique called “project retrospectives” to identify what’s working for you and what we need to improve. We try to improve the course as we go.

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Syllabus version 1.1