Big Nerd Ranch
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Big Nerd Ranch blog offers app development and design tutorials, tips and tricks for software engineering and insights for team training and mobile technology.
Big Nerd Ranch
8M ago
Introduction
When computer programming was young, code was punched into cards. That is, holes were punched into a piece of cardboard in a format that a computer could interpret as the switching of bits–before using punched cards, programmers had to flip bit switches by hand. A complete program consisted of an ordered deck of cards to be fed into a computer one card at a time. As you can imagine, this task required a tremendous amount of mental overhead because time on a computer was limited and errors in the program were disastrous. These encumbrances forced programmers to be efficient and acc ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
8M ago
Connecting the dots: how we got here
At Big Nerd Ranch, we have some strongly held beliefs about how people best learn new technical practices. Some of the central tenets of our teaching philosophy include:
Assume no prior knowledge but infinite intelligence
Students learn best when they have dedicated time and space for learning
Students can learn more, more quickly when we take away distractions and focus them on learning
An expert guide provides the best pathway to new knowledge frontiers
Students need to interact with a topic in multiple ways to most ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
9M ago
Mac and Mobile – how it all started
Big Nerd Ranch has made our name in Mac and mobile. We were the first to have a comprehensive method for teaching Mac programming, iOS programming, and Android programming. Our deep knowledge of these technologies, forged through real client experience, coupled with our deep empathy for students and how they learn, has allowed us to help thousands of individuals and hundreds of companies to build their own native mobile applications. We think of ourselves as a friendly guide, helping our students solve problems one-by-one until they eventually develop ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
Based on our React Essentials course, this book uses hands-on examples to guide you step by step through building a starter app and a complete, production-ready app, both crafted to help you quickly leverage React’s remarkable power.
Your production-ready app will include a cart, a login page, and other e-commerce features.
What do you need to know?
Before you dive into the book, you will want to be familiar with the basics of HTML and CSS. It will also help to have a foundational knowledge of JavaScript, although we will cover some JavaScript concepts throughout the book. Yo ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
AsyncImage is a built-in SwiftUI view that asynchronously downloads and displays an image from a remote URL. It is designed to provide a smooth and performant user experience by downloading images asynchronously in the background while allowing the user to interact with the rest of the app.
AsyncImage Basics
To use AsyncImage, you simply provide a URL to the image you want to display, and AsyncImage takes care of the rest. It will show a placeholder image while the actual image is being downloaded and then update the view with the downloaded image when it’s available.
The simplest way to ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
The Bot that’s got everyone talking
The science-fiction future is among us as we find ourselves on the precipice of an AI revolution. As with all technological milestones, from the wheel to the computer, what we can do and how fast we can do it shift towards ever-increasing productivity. While the philosophers and keyboard warriors among us discuss the philosophical ramifications of AI, here at Big Nerd Ranch, we concern ourselves with more practical matters.
In this series, I plan on investigating ChatGPT’s answer to one of the oldest questions in human history: How can I make my life easier ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
Svelte is a great front-end Javascript framework that offers a unique approach to the complexity of front-end systems. It claims to differentiate itself from other popular frameworks, like React and Angular, by solving these problems rather than moving the complexity around. Some key advantages of Svelte are its impressive performance and speed—and its simple implementation that allows for slim files and less boilerplate. For example, with Svelte stores, you can implement full global state management in less than ten lines of code!
Unlike other frameworks, Svelte does not run in the browser, n ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
Definition of Done is nothing but a comprehensive checklist of necessary, value-added activities for the quality of a feature.
– Scrum Alliance
The value of defining the Definition of Done is to ensure that everyone involved in a software development project, including the development team, product owner, and stakeholders, has a common understanding of what constitutes a complete and potentially releasable increment of work.
The Definition of Done checklist ensures that everyone involved in the project has a common understanding throughout the story’s life cycle. Checklist items get c ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
One of the unique things about technical writing is that we are often tasked with documenting processes, codebases, software, and more that we don’t fully understand. Because of this, technical writers document things about which they have a strong working knowledge but lack complete mastery.
So, how do technical writers fill the knowledge gap? That’s where Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) come in. Working with them is one of the key functions of being a technical writer. And, if properly handled, it is one of the most rewarding and fun aspects of being a technical writer.
What is an SME? &n ..read more
Big Nerd Ranch
1y ago
Imagine, if you will, that you’ve discovered a cute new gem of a bakery. The pastry chef welcomes you into the ambient, delightfully quirky space. She graciously gives you a tour of the perfect pastries expertly arranged in the display case. She tells you of the process, describing the work of kneading the dough as one would describe creating a piece of art. She offers fascinating anecdotes about some of the more esoteric ingredients and baking techniques.
Ultimately, she compliments you on your distinguished taste in scones and gingerly rings up your items. “How about an espresso to go with i ..read more