App making course

rebel rebel

rebel rebel

rebel rebel

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Hello, I'm currently awaiting a kidney transplant and having dialysis 3 evenings a week. I'm basically living on my savings. And used to work part time as a researcher for an author. Now thats finished I want to spend my free time (of which there is lots) training in app development. With the idea of working in the industry, either for a company or for myself, in a few years time, once the transplant has happened.

I found a course in my local college.

Mobile Application Development and EnterpriseLevel 2 Award

But this started in May, and they are not sure when a new one starts.

Could someone with experience guide me to a worthwhile course please.

PC experience wise... I learnt to code html in 2001 but never did much in the industry, and I'm pretty good with Photoshop.
 
No I haven't, I only heard back from my local college yesterday. I will look now, are they courses from home or class based? I do much better if I'm learning with others.
 
rebel rebel said:
No I haven't, I only heard back from my local college yesterday. I will look now, are they courses from home or class based? I do much better if I'm learning with others.
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They're normally all online, self paced learning.

There are so many technologies to learn, you'd be best of trying to pick something like an intro to Swift, or something like that, so you can make iOS apps. App development is super general you see!
 
randomshenans said:
They're normally all online, self paced learning.

There are so many technologies to learn, you'd be best of trying to pick something like an intro to Swift, or something like that, so you can make iOS apps. App development is super general you see!
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Are ios apps the best introduction into app making? I've always had android phones.

jsmoke said:
I actually use basic4android. Have a lot. Super easy basic flavour and ever progressing toolkit.
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Thanks I'll take a look at that. A few months ago I tried following an Android Studio tutorial, but quickly got confused and gave up. This is kinda why I would like a face to face course where I can be talked through any problems I have. I had just started dialysis then though, so may not have been in the best mental state to learn.
 
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Android Developer Guide is a pretty good place to start for Android:
https://developer.android.com/guide
I would recommend learning in Java first for Android, if there is any confusion then google will probably help you with that, Google also has their own course which gives you a "Junior/Entry" level Android app developer certificate but there is a fee if you wish you do it.

IOS is a tricky one, to do native IOS you must have a MAC computer to program as its mainly XCode. They mainly focus in Objective-C or Swift.

You can also develop Android&IOS on multi-platform SDK in Html5 I believe on Xarmin aswell, Visual Studio and Flutter.
 
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rebel rebel said:
No I haven't, I only heard back from my local college yesterday. I will look now, are they courses from home or class based? I do much better if I'm learning with others.
Click to expand...

They're online. If you've got a local college offering courses and you'd feel better learning that way initially then surely that is a no brainer - go to your local college and take their course?

Udemy, as already mentioned, has various courses of this nature though they're created by just about anyone so check the reviews etc... Also you can pretty much never pay full price for the courses, there are always vouchers available online offering a significant discount (the course providers expect/budget for the vast majority of their students paying a heavily discounted rate).

Udacity is worth a look too, they're not an open platform for any man and his dog to create a course, they're made in conjunction with universities and large tech firms, they offer nano degree programs. Some of the lectures et.c. are available for free but the nano degree programs can cost a bit.

Also look at coursera, edX too.
 
kurosagi01 said:
Android Developer Guide is a pretty good place to start for Android:
https://developer.android.com/guide
I would recommend learning in Java first for Android, if there is any confusion then google will probably help you with that, Google also has their own course which gives you a "Junior/Entry" level Android app developer certificate but there is a fee if you wish you do it.

IOS is a tricky one, to do native IOS you must have a MAC computer to program as its mainly XCode. They mainly focus in Objective-C or Swift.

You can also develop Android&IOS on multi-platform SDK in Html5 I believe on Xarmin aswell, Visual Studio and Flutter.
Click to expand...

Well atm I have a PC and a Surface Pro tablet/laptop so it makes sense to start with Android. Thanks for your help.

dowie said:
They're online. If you've got a local college offering courses and you'd feel better learning that way initially then surely that is a no brainer - go to your local college and take their course?

Udemy, as already mentioned, has various courses of this nature though they're created by just about anyone so check the reviews etc... Also you can pretty much never pay full price for the courses, there are always vouchers available online offering a significant discount (the course providers expect/budget for the vast majority of their students paying a heavily discounted rate).

Udacity is worth a look too, they're not an open platform for any man and his dog to create a course, they're made in conjunction with universities and large tech firms, they offer nano degree programs. Some of the lectures et.c. are available for free but the nano degree programs can cost a bit.

Also look at coursera, edX too.
Click to expand...

The local college course was twice a year, starting in May and October. But after speaking to them, they say they are changing the dates and cannot tell me when the next one is starting until around September. Because I haven't done any courses since 2001, I need the added assistance that class based lessons provide. At least until I get to grips with it all.

Where is the Google development certificate? I would feel quite pleased with myself if I earned a certificate!
 
Well being out of education for a while doesn't necessarily mean that you need extra assistance, that is down to you, how you learn etc.. if you feel you that is a requirement then you've probably answered your own question, should go to your local college and I'm not sure what you're expecting others to suggest here? Given that you don't mention your location what are you expecting here in terms of actual courses where you can be given additional help? We can only suggest online stuff and it isn't clear whether you consider that suitable?

Would online courses that have some interactive element be suitable? If so then see Udacity as suggested earlier, they'll have TA's/tutors you can interact with. Others tend to have a forum of sorts where people can ask questions that may be answered by TAs or may be answered by other students.

Most MOOC providers offer certificates btw...
 
I'm in Southend, and there's a college nearby.

Because I'm on dialysis and don't get out much, I would benefit from something that got me out the house more. But I know most of these courses are online, so will have to do one of them.
 
dowie said:
Would online courses that have some interactive element be suitable? If so then see Udacity as suggested earlier, they'll have TA's/tutors you can interact with. Others tend to have a forum of sorts where people can ask questions that may be answered by TAs or may be answered by other students.

Most MOOC providers offer certificates btw...
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Yes interactive would be better than just following tutorials.

Like I said before, once I get the basics I'll be ok to learn in any form. I just need that extra help to get me started.
 
rebel rebel said:
I'm in Southend, and there's a college nearby.
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Are you able to make trips into London? (I mean I think some people who work in London commute from there)

If so then for short courses you could take a look at City University perhaps (I only found out about this one as a friend took a short C++/financial engineering course there) - they seem to offer app development and general introductory programming courses, it looks like the course is focused on android development and requires you to have learned java programming first (which they also offer introductory courses in).

https://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/short-courses/computing

(It might just be worth getting an initial general programming class done and then self study the rest tbh...)
 
dowie said:
Are you able to make trips into London? (I mean I think some people who work in London commute from there)

If so then for short courses you could take a look at City University perhaps (I only found out about this one as a friend took a short C++/financial engineering course there) - they seem to offer app development and general introductory programming courses, it looks like the course is focused on android development and requires you to have learned java programming first (which they also offer introductory courses in).

https://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/short-courses/computing

(It might just be worth getting an initial general programming class done and then self study the rest tbh...)
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Yes it's around 60 mins from London on a good day. With 2 overhead train routes into London. One to Liverpool Street the other to Fenchurch Street.
I can travel but not during rush hour times. I can't risk being packed in a train and catching a cold from someone. (After a transplant I would have to travel to London on a daily basis, and they send a driver to pick you up rather than risk someone sneezing on you)

I think the way forward is going to be learning from home for now, and if I haven't got to grips with the basic by the time Southend College are starting a new course. I'll sign up for that.
 
Looking at City University, their beginners Java course runs on Tuesdays 18.30 - 20.30. Starting in October.

That's a decent time for me, and it's on a dialysis free day, so if I don't get to grips with it from home, I could do that.

Thanks for your help.
 
No worries, best of luck with it :)

(Yeah I know what you mean re: people sneezing on you etc.. my immune system probably isn't as suppressed as yours but is slightly due to drugs I take for Crohn's and if someone sneezes on a train while not covering their nose etc.. it is really irritating, I use alcohol gel a lot too as most colds/flu etc.. is picked up from surfaces AFAIK)
 
dowie said:
No worries, best of luck with it :)

(Yeah I know what you mean re: people sneezing on you etc.. my immune system probably isn't as suppressed as yours but is slightly due to drugs I take for Crohn's and if someone sneezes on a train while not covering their nose etc.. it is really irritating, I use alcohol gel a lot too as most colds/flu etc.. is picked up from surfaces AFAIK)
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Thanks!

Yeah immune systems are tricky beasts, transplantees take drugs to prevent the body rejecting the new organ. And these pills make you susceptible to skin cancer. So my plan of living out the rest of my days somewhere tropical, once the new kidney is inserted, have had to be changed.
 
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