You Can Do It Now

If you are fortunate enough to work in the technology industry, you do not need permission to move forward. So do it now.

Yes, you will have to define it for yourself.

ChiPMA – Product Management

A few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Suneel Gupta speak at a Chicago Product Management Association meeting hosted by Pathfinder Development. Three points raised during Gupta’s talk:

• Conditions are never perfect. So start now.
• What does start mean? Figure that out, and draw out the plan.
• If you suck at first, keep going.
• Conditions are never perfect.

Technology and God

Reflecting on a quote I became aware of recently:

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.

~Freeman Dyson, English Physicist

Well said, Freeman Dyson. Praise God for technology.

Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide

You will be baffled from time to time… Stick with this book. I promise the bewilderment will cease before you get to the final page.
 
~ Aaron Hillegass, Author

Finding the Right Objective-C Book

I’ve gone through several Objective-C books in my quest to master RubyMotion. You read that right: I’m learning Objective-C so that I can master RubyMotion. Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide is one book that clicks for me. Here’s why.

Atari's Pong, Built With RubyMotion

Atari’s Pong is a classic video arcade game from the 1970s. Seeing Pong always gives me childhood flashbacks.

Pong in Objective-C

I recently completed the iOS Accelerated course at the Mobile Makers Academy. For one of our homework assignments, we were asked to build a version of Pong that runs on iOS. Our instructor, Don Bora, started us off with some skeleton code in Objective-C. Each student had to take Don’s code and:

• Add paddles.
• Make the paddles move on their own.
• Make the ball bounce off the moving paddles.
• Keep score.
• Let one or two players control the paddles via touch.

Apprenticeship Patterns

In times of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
- Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition

Blogger’s Note: This review of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave H. Hoover and Adewale Oshineye was originally posted at ChicagoRuby.org/book-reviews.

A New Profession

Software development is among the newest of professions – roughly 70 years old depending on what you consider to be the beginning. The field is in a constant state of flux. New languages, new theories, new ways of communicating with clients… the list seems endless. How does a new developer keep up? How does a seasoned developer avoid growing stale?