Follow Stanford’s iPhone Programming Class For Free | Hacker News Reader

Follow Stanford’s iPhone Programming Class For Free

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120 pointspetercooper23 comments

Whaat? My undergrad CS department didn't have anything this focused on a single technology or programming environment. The most specific was the software engineering course where you learned how to use Java and C++ and XML, but the point of that course was not even to teach those things but to teach you how to learn the tools for doing professonal software development (and to help you figure out how to actually build the projects in later courses).

I noticed this was part of stanford's Professional Development course series, but I still am surprised they would offer such a short-term focused course.

193 series are normal undergrad courses. None of them were required (and probably still are not) for a CS degree, but they are an acceptable choice, along with many others. I think I took u (Unix programming), d (C++) and i (Internet programming) back in the day. 193 series is explicitly industry oriented, but the whole point of Stanford CS education is to get the practical experience at the same time you learn the fundamentals. The two are complimentary.

Not only are the 193's not required, they don't count towards the major at all.

I'm taking a Comp Sci class in flash animation and graphic design. Not only does it not count towards the major, but nor for any elective, either (of the ones I have remaining to fulfill). But I wanted to take it... and it's been worth it.

I'm starting to think that this is a universal truth that the best classes never count towards your major. If the only people in there want to be there, including the prof, everyone learns more.

Another Stanford course that got plenty of buzz from last year:

CS 377W “Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook” 3-5 units Tues & Thurs: 2:15 - 5:05

Much like the Facebook applications course Stanford offered last year (and still offers?)

iPhone (and Facebook) app development is the type of stuff that any sufficiently intelligent programmer (surely most Stanford CS students?) should be able to pick up from books, tutorials, documentation, etc.

If you've got the opportunity to study CS at Stanford, I'd focus on the CS fundamentals, not the latest trendy technology. Though if you're looking for a fun break from the harder stuff, maybe it's worthwhile?

I believe they work in groups to develop their own application. Also, I don't think there's a prerequisite of programming knowledge before taking this class, thus making it a great way for any 19-year-old student to collaborate on developing an app by the end of the semester. From other posts, it doesn't count as part of the computer science major--and it may not even count as an elective.

I'm a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics at another university. I'm taking a class in developing an iPhone application (though I'm not being taught anything, it's more of an experimental independent study), which will count as an upper-level elective. Sure, I'm also interested in the "real" level 400 classes as well, but I can't take those until next Fall! So in some cases, students who take such classes are actually going above and beyond their "level" in school, with instructor permission.

If I was at Stanford, I would definitely enroll in that class.

Why not teach students a technology that could potentially make them money (maybe even a lot of money) while they're still in school or shortly thereafter? Of course they should keep and require the basics as well, but what better way to build enthusiasm for programming than becoming a successful programmer?

"... Why not teach students a technology that could potentially make them money ..."

Because technology changes and the money follows.

This is the problem of trying to teach specifics rather than general principles. Most engineering degrees in Aus. have a 1 year 'in-industry' year before graduation. Does CS needs something like this for grads to cut their teeth in technology specifics?

Just looked through a few -- these presentations are excellent. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to learn iPhone development. (Not too surprising. Both lecturers work on iPhone development at Apple, and Paul Marcos has been teaching Cocoa at Stanford for a while.)

Patrick, any other resources you'd recommend?

Sorry I'm not Patrick, but we're trying to keep up to date with iPhone developer news (as well as tutorials) at http://www.mobileorchard.com/ - we're trying to become a bit of a "go to" for iPhone development news and the like - high level stuff mostly.

FWIW, I posted the direct link to HN, but I also wrote a blog post about it that might fill in some of the missing gaps for some:

http://www.mobileorchard.com/take-stanfords-iphone-programmi...

These slides are fantastic! They also contain little bits of insights for general Cocoa or ObjC development, which are very welcome.

I've been following the slides up through the 4th class - they are excellent. Makes me wonder why I'd bother buying any books at all about this.

looking at the course number 193P, it's probably a seminar or special course. maybe just once.

are there more tutorials or videos available?

From the FAQ in http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/downloads/Handout-0-Ove... :

Q: Will the class be televised? A: Yes. This year’s class will be offered via SCPD and will be available online. There is no broadcast on campus cable, it will only be available online.

However it doesn't look like its posted yet, there's no videos on http://scpd.stanford.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do... - without knowing anything whatsoever about Stanford's policy on SCPD, I'd guess that they'll be posted once the course is over.

SCPD videos are generally only available to students. If you're not an actual Stanford student, they want your money. The videos show up at https://myvideosu.stanford.edu, but you need a valid SUNetID.

I am following this course in a blog you might want to check out

http://gregorykaiser.wordpress.com/

there is also a very good Google group for the class

http://groups.google.com/group/iphone-appdev-auditors/topics

I hope this helps you with the class

Greg

By the way I am getting farther faster than with the books I had. It's worth watching

thanks for posting. Will keep my eyes on this.

thanks for the link

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