Feedback on Big Nerd Ranch - iPhone Bootcamp - Kloster Eberbach - Germany

My Motive for Learning iPhone

Having done the Cocoa I course in February 2009 (review also on Squidoo), I was interested in tuning my skills regarding iPhone as I was aware that there are some "special considerations" to be taken when developing for iPhone compared to Mac. Where would I get this?

Why Big Nerd Ranch?

I had already experienced the Cocoa I course at Big Nerd Ranch a few months ago and was confident that it would be the best option for me to take regarding iPhone development. Big Nerd Ranch offer several courses on various technologies in North America and Europe. Being based in the United Kingdom, the natural choice for me was a course based in Europe.

Now Which Course?

Big Nerd Ranch offered 2 options. The difference between the two options is 2 additonal days training on the Objective-C language in the "Beginning iPhone Bootcamp" option (7 days). As I had already done the Cocoa I course I opted for the "iPhone Bootcamp" option (5 days).

Arranging the Course

Booking the course was easy and without any issues. Starting off the booking was done via the Big Nerd Ranch Website. Any questions were answered by Stefanie Hofling, who runs the European office of Big Nerd Ranch. All my questions were answered competently by her.

Arriving in Frankfurt

Following a flight to Frankfurt International Airport, I met some of the students and was then whisked away to Kloster Eberbach by the shuttle bus arranged by Big Nerd Ranch.

Arrival At Kloster Eberbach

Kloster Eberbach is a monastary and maintained in an ideal way for such a course (clean, quiet, modern facilities, no distractions). My room was comfortable and closely located to the areas I would need to access during my stay.

The Other Participants at the Bootcamp

Over the next few days I got know more about the other people at the bootcamp. The ages and backgrounds of the participants varied widely. Everyone was interesting and friendly. During the course I found that everyone asked questions and the answers that were provided were benefical to all.

The Instructor

Below you will find a short bio of Scott Richie, our instructor.

"Cocoa and iPhone Instructor Scott Ritchie has been developing with and teaching about Objective-C since he joined NeXT Computer in 1990. Prior to that time he was an engineer at Sun Microsystems working on window systems. Since 2000 he has held several training and engineering positions with Apple, most recently working with both AppKit and UIKit development.

Scott received his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was introduced to Smalltalk-80. He hasn't wanted to work with a computer language that wasn't also an "environment" since. He went on to earn a Masters in Computer Science from UC Berkeley where he focused on the design of RISC-based multiprocessor architectures."

Scott taught me in the Cocoa I bootcamp in February 2009 as well.

Scott, in my opinion, is one of the best instructors that I have ever met. Not only does he have a comprehensive knowledge of the material, but he is able to teach iPhone programming in a clear, concise and friendly manner. He managed to cover a vast range of material during the days we were there with adequate time for questions too. He also made multiple relevant cross references to other areas of Cocoa programming (e.g mac).

The Course

During the course we managed to learn how to:

Use the Objective-C language for iPhone application development
Manage Memory
Use iPhone Design Patterns (like Delegation, Notification, etc)
Set up elegant user interfaces easily
Set up text input fields on the iPhone and move the virtual keyboard onto the screen
Create iPhone applications that use Core Location (GPS, Cell Tower Triangulation, Wifi Access Point Location) to pinpoint a user's location
Localize applications for international use
Swap out different interfaces (windows) with animation
Display data in tables
Display HTML either from a file or directly from the web
Create applications that can record audio and play short sounds and full audio files
Store data as files or SQLite databases
Handle warnings from the phone so applications don't get shut down
Draw and animate with OpenGL
Handle touch and complex multi-touch sequences
Draw with Core Graphics
Animate user interfaces with Core Animation
Create an application that can access the user's photos or use the camera to take new photos for use within the application
Use the accelerometer to detect changes in the device's orientation
Pull data from a web service for use in an application
Create applications that access and modify the user's Address Book through a standard or customized interface
Maintain a preference file for an application
Set up remote client/server functionality for the iPhone
Use Instruments to profile an application

This was obtained by learning theory and then practicing completing planned programming tasks.

Conclusion

The course was exactly what I hoped for and fulfilled expectations. The Big Nerd Ranch organizers had again thought hard about and created the ideal learning environment. This, coupled with arranging teaching by Scott resulted in another successful learning experence.

Thank you Big Nerd Ranch.