CSC 581: Mobile App Development
Spring 2019

Course Overview


Mobile landscape
  iOS background
    iOS history, market share, profits vs. volume
    iOS architecture: Cocoa Touch, media layer, core services, core OS    
  mobile platforms
    Web vs. native vs. hybrid apps
    Progressive Web Apps, hybrid technologies: PhoneGap, React Native, ...
    iOS vs. Android
  mobile design guidelines
    iOS design themes: clarity, deference, depth
    iOS design principles
      aesthetic integrity, direct manipulation, metaphors,
      consistency, feedback, user control
  mobile future
    AI, IoT, AR/VR, cloud, data science, security
  Progressive Web apps
    icon file, manifest file, service worker
    PWA vs. native tradeoffs

Swift
  language basics
    variables: let vs. var, scope
    data types: type inferencing, expressions, enumerations   
      optionals: ?, !, if-let
    control statements: if, while, for (with ranges), guard
    functions: internal vs. external names, default parameters
    String: e.g. word: String
      field: count; methods: lowercased, uppercased, contains, []
      String interpolations: e.g., print("\(a) \(b)")
  collections 
    array: e.g., names : [String]
      field: count; methods: append, +=, remove, insert
    dictionary (map): e.g., var ages : [String:Int]
      fields: count, keys, values; methods: contains, remove, filter
  user-defined types
    struct: commonly used for data structures & objects
      value type, no inheritance
      public vs. private vs. private(set) fields
      init method, must specify mutating methods 
      (note: arrays & dictionaries are structs)
    class: generally used for OO programming
      reference type, supports inheritance (must specify when override)
  OO design
    computed properties/fields
    Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern
    protocols: CustomStringConvertible, Equatable, Comparable, user-defined
  data persistence:
    reading text from a file, Bundle.main.path
      parsing the text using String.split and String.components
    reading writing objects into Info.plist
      UserDefaults.standard.set, UserDefaults.standard.string

Xcode/UIKit
  Xcode IDE
    playgrounds vs. projects
    IDE areas: editor, toolbar, navigator, debug, utility
    Single View App template: ViewController.swift, Main.storyboard
  iOS UIKit
    UIView subclasses: UILabel, UIImageView, UITextView, UITabBar, ...
    UIControl subclasses: UIButton, UISwitch, UISegmentedControl, UITextField, ...
    fields/properties: isHidden, isEnabled, ...
  Common tasks
    UI elements:
      drag from Object Library, create an outlet/action  
    app layout: 
      constraints, stack views
    navigation:
      hierachical vs. flat vs. content-driven design
      show vs. modal segues, prepare method, viewDidLoad method
      navigation bar, tab bar
    images:
      UIImageView, app icons
    specialized views:
      UIPickerView, UIScrollView, UITableView, popovers
    sensing:
      motion events (e.g., shake), touch gestures (e.g., tap, swipe)