Xcode is Apple's Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to develop Apps for the iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch and Macintosh line of computers. The language has evolved over the years from Objective C to Swift and SwiftUI. SwiftUI is a declarative language as opposed to an imperative (or procedural) one. Developing Apps becomes considerably easier with the simulator providing immediate feedback for the many devices available for consumers today. While knowledge of general programming terms and control structures is beneficial, it is not necessary as we will be dovetailing language development with App development.
This course runs the week of July 7, 2025 (Monday July 7 - Thursday July 10, 8:30am - 3:00pm)

Developing iOS Apps must be done on a Macintosh computer, MacBook laptop, or MacBook Air. You must have access to one of those devices and should bring your own laptop to class each day. We'll develop many apps which can be stored by you for future reference after the course is completed.

Prior to class starting July 7th, you should download the Xcode IDE to your laptop at home. To do so, begin by signing in to the Apple developer portal here (you may need to click on "Account" in upper menu) and create your account if you don't already have one (it's free). Your login username will be an email address you expect to continue using.

Next login to your newly created Apple Developer Account with the username and password you used to set up the account.

Begin the Xcode download which is quite large (about 9 GB), so take a break while it's downloading.

DO NOT join the Apple Developer Program at this point. It's $99 and valid for one year, allowing you to upload your apps to the App Store. Wait until you've learned enough to create a decent app for publication. You can, however, download your apps to your own device.

If you have any questions regarding the course, contact Ange Mason at the UC San Diego Supercomputer Center.
If you have any questions regarding the course material, contact Joe Pistone.