Swiftly Speaking
These are edited transcriptions of interviews that took place on my Swiftly Speaking YouTube series. You can watch the full videos, or subscribe using your preferred podcast app.
Select an interview…
- James Thomson
- Ellen Shapiro
- John Sundell
- Kaya Thomas
- Daniel Steinberg
- Janina Kutyn
- Sean Allen
- Paola Mata
- Meng To
- Carola Nitz
- Chris Lattner
- Mayuko Inoue
- Ish Shabazz
- Jordanna Kwok
James Thomson
We talk to James about his work on PCalc, app marketing, and project management for indie developers.
App marketing
- Welcome
- How to get your iOS app featured on the App Store
- Does being featured by Apple help app sales?
- Does advertising your app on other websites help?
Indie project management
- How to do project management well as an indie developer
- How much should be in each app release?
- Learning to sell your byproducts
- Advice for software developers who want to work from home
- Should more app developers use subscriptions?
Keeping up to date
- What are you expecting from WWDC20?
- How can someone get started with ARKit?
- What do you think of Apple’s own calculator apps?
- Will SwiftUI replace UIKit?
- Wrap up
Ellen Shapiro
We talk to Ellen about her work on GraphQL, tips for testing, and more.
GraphQL
- Introduction
- Why should iOS developers use GraphQL?
- The killer features of GraphQL: code generation, flexibility, and efficiency
- How to integrate GraphQL with your iOS app
- Is it possible to use GraphQL with Core Data?
Testing
- What is a pragmatic approach to testing Swift?
- When to use unit tests or UI tests
- How to add the first tests to an Xcode project
- Should you write tests as you go or all at the end?
- How do you write testable Swift?
- What are the most important things to be tested in an iOS app?
- Should a project have 100% test coverage?
And more
- Using Swift Package Manager and CocoaPods instead of Carthage
- Tips for home working
- How to get your first iOS development job
- What to expect from WWDC20
- Wrap up
John Sundell
We talk to John about getting a job as an iOS developer, improving your Swift skills, and more.
Getting a job
- Introduction
- How to get your first iOS developer job
- How to improve your Swift skills
- Building a portfolio: should you ship an app or put code on GitHub?
- Do programmers need a computer science degree?
- How to do well at a Swift interview
- Where to apply for Swift jobs?
Improving your skills
- What's better: being a specialist or a generalist in Swift?
- How to move up from being a junior developer in iOS
- How to keep up to date with Swift
- How to start learning a new API or framework
Writing about Swift
- How can someone get started writing about Swift and iOS?
- How to write about a topic that has already been covered elsewhere
- What is the John Sundell writing process?
- Tips for delivering a programming talk
And more
- What’s your advice for staying productive at home?
- What would you like to see WWDC20 delivering?
- Wrap up
Kaya Thomas
We talk to Kaya about Swift, making the most of push notifications, life at a big company, and more.
SwiftUI
- Introduction
- First impressions of SwiftUI?
- Should you learn SwiftUI or UIKit?
- What are the pros and cons of learning SwiftUI?
- Tips on identifying SwiftUI errors
- Building SwiftUI apps for macOS and watchOS
- Would you make a Catalyst App?
- What's the future of UIKit?
Shipping a side project
- What is We Read Too?
- How much time should you spend working on side projects?
- How to market an indie app
- Tips on making a great side project
Using push notifications
- Pro tips on push notifications with iOS
- What are the most common mistakes with push notifications?
- How many push messages should you send?
Working for a big company
- What is it like to interview for big companies?
- What's more important: building a GitHub profile or shipping an app on the App Store?
- Diversity and inclusion in iOS development teams
- Wrap up
Daniel Steinberg
We talk to Daniel about learning functional programming, using Combine, and keeping up to date with Swift Evolution.
Functional programming
- Introduction
- What is functional programming in Swift?
- What are the advantages of functional programming in Swift?
- What are the first steps for functional programming in Swift?
- How to improve your functional programming skills?
- What are monads?
Combine
- What problem does Combine solve?
- Is Combine only for SwiftUI developers?
- What is Combine missing?
- How to encourage idiomatic usage of Combine
- How to break up structs and classes
Swift Evolution
- How to keep up with Swift Evolution
- How well is Swift Evolution working?
- Why are function builders fundamental in SwiftUI?
- What would make Swift.org better?
- What's the most exciting feature of future Swift?
- Wrap up
Janina Kutyn
We talk to Janina about optimizing UIKit layouts, CALayer, and building adaptive layouts for iPhone and iPad.
UIKit performance
- Introduction
- How fast is UIKit on modern iPhones?
- How to identify UIKit performance issues
- What common mistakes do UIKit developers make?
- What's on your wishlist for UIKit this WWDC20?
- Is UIKit over as SwiftUI is the new rising star?
- How to optimise table views in UIKit
- What's better: programmatic layouts or storyboards?
- Pro tips for UIKit performance
Core Animation layers
- What is CALayer and why is it so important?
- How to best utilize CALayers
- Core Animation and UIKit performance comparisons
Adaptive layouts
- Why should developers make more iPad apps?
- Should you design for a big screen or small screen first?
- What are the common problems when designing for different-sized screens?
- What other tools can help us make adaptive layouts?
- Tips for working with adaptive layouts
Sean Allen
We talk to Sean about learning iOS development, doing your best at take-home tests, and acing job interviews.
How to learn iOS development
- Introduction
- What's the best way to learn Swift?
- Should you learn SwiftUI or UIKit?
- How long before SwiftUI replaces UIKit?
- What are the three most common mistakes when learning Swift?
- What are the most important concepts when learning Swift?
- How to keep up with Swift's evolution?
- How should you approach testing in Swift?
- Where should new Swift developers start their career?
Take-home tests
- What are the most common take-home tests for iOS developers?
- How to decide which framework to use in a take-home project?
- What are the most important non-code parts in take-home tests?
- How to ace an iOS developer take home test
- MVC vs MVVM for iOS apps?
- Recommendations for creating take home-tests
Interview tips
- What's the best way to prepare for a Swift interview?
- How to answer tricky whiteboard questions
- What are the most common interview questions for Swift jobs?
- How to respond to questions where you don't know the answer
- What are the red flags to look out for during an interview?
- What is a senior iOS developer?
- Wrap Up
Paola Mata
We talk to Paola about life as a senior developer, making the most of Swift's enums, and working in the community.
Being a senior developer
- Introduction
- What separates a senior iOS developer from a junior developer?
- What are the levels between junior and senior iOS developer roles?
- What is the best approach to code review?
- How to get to senior Swift developer roles?
- Do you think a degree in computer science is necessary?
- What are the responsibilities of a programming mentor and what comes after being a senior developer?
- How can a senior developer keep learning?
- How would you discuss problematic code with a junior developer?
Swift enums
- What makes Swift's enums so powerful and what are enums with associated values?
- What do you think are good use cases for enum raw values?
- What new Swift API would you most want to see in your projects?
Working in the community
- How to get involved in the Swift community
- How can you get involved in the community if you can't travel?
- Tips for starting your own Swift meetup
- Tips for introverts who want to attend a meetup
- Should you build a presence online before going to a meetup?
- How to find a software engineer mentor
- Wrap up
Meng To
We talk to Meng about SwiftUI, some more SwiftUI, and how developers can improve their design skills.
SwiftUI for designers
- Introduction
- What makes SwiftUI so attractive to learners and designers?
- How does SwiftUI compare to React?
- How to avoid going overboard with animations
- How to make iOS apps that look great on all devices
- What can SwiftUI do better than UIKit?
- How to make apps more accessible
SwiftUI for developers
- Should you learn SwiftUI or UIKit?
- What are the biggest shortcomings of SwiftUI?
- SwiftUI vs React vs Flutter
- Top three tips for SwiftUI learners
- How to split up SwiftUI code into manageable chunks
- How do you integrate components from UIKit into SwiftUI?
- What's your advice on unit testing?
Design for developers
- What are the most common design errors developers make?
- How to make your app stand out using SwiftUI
- What tools does iOS give us to make great designs?
- When does it make sense to use a new gesture in your app?
- The best tip for developers to improve their designs
- Wrap up
Carola Nitz
We speak to Carola about debugging iOS apps, managing legacy code in big projects, and organizing a Swift conference.
Improving your debugging skills
- Introduction
- What are the most common problems with debugging in iOS?
- What are the core tools for debugging iOS apps?
- How can you get started using Instruments?
- What is the best way to approach debugging a bigger iOS problem?
- Tips for debugging iOS memory problems
- Which parts of Instruments are useful for debugging?
- How could Apple make debugging better?
Working with legacy code
- How to add new features while still supporting old iOS versions
- Techniques for keeping old code working
- What skills do you need for large projects?
- How can you maintain feature parity between iOS and Android apps?
How to run a developer event
- What separates a good event from a great event?
- What works better for learning: workshops or presentations?
- Tips for attending a programmer conference if you are an introvert
- How to start organizing an event for developers?
- Wrap up
Chris Lattner
We speak to Chris about the early history of Swift, his tips for learning the language better, and his thoughts on Swift Evolution.
The History of Swift
- Introduction
- How did you start creating Swift?
- Could Apple have improved Objective-C instead of making Swift?
- Was there a risk of Swift splitting the community?
- When Swift was first designed, were you only thinking about Apple platforms?
- How and when did Swift get its name?
- How did you decide what went into Swift at launch?
- Were there changes between the first Swift beta and release?
- How did Swift change the landscape for developers?
- How important were Playgrounds and the reference guide?
- If you were starting from scratch today, what would you do differently?
Learning Swift today
- Should someone learn Swift as their first language?
- What’s the best way of learning Swift programming?
- Chris Lattner explains optionals
- Chris Lattner explains closures
Thoughts on Swift Evolution
- Is Swift getting too complicated?
- Thoughts on multiple trailing closures in Swift
- When will async/await come to Swift?
- What made Result finally appear in Swift?
- Is Swift becoming a multi-platform language?
- Is Swift Evolution working well?
- Is there anything you would change in Swift?
- Will Swift Evolution ever slow down?
- Wrap up
Mayuko Inoue
We speak to Mayuko about why she likes iOS development, why she *dislikes* iOS development, and her experiences sharing her life and career on YouTube.
Building for iOS
- Introduction
- What is the Mayuko Inoue key to success?
- What are the best tools and techniques for large iOS projects?
- Is it important to learn new things, beyond iOS development?
- Are CS degrees really necessary?
- Is iOS development culture really that weird?
- How can we make the iOS development community more inclusive?
Teams and careers
- What are the most important skills in software engineering?
- Tips for getting your first job in software development
- How to write a great resume and interview well
- Is the iOS community getting more diverse?
Life on YouTube
- How to manage side projects while having a full time job
- How can you make your side job become your main job?
- Why kindness is so important in the development community
- Does having live coding sessions make you more productive?
- Advice to start making your own video tutorials
- Wrap up
Ish Shabazz
We speak to Ish about combining UIKit and SwiftUI, his work on indie apps, and programming with purpose.
SwiftUI vs UIKit
- Introduction
- What are the advantages of SwiftUI over UIKit?
- What should you use for new iOS apps: SwiftUI or UIKit?
- Has SwiftUI made you want to build apps for macOS, tvOS, and watchOS?
- How to integrate UIKit and SwiftUI in the same application
Working on indie apps
- What is the best process to work on an indie app?
- How to make your app stand out on the App Store
- How to get your app featured by Apple
- How could Apple make the App Store better for developers?
Programming with purpose
- How to help someone get into programming
- How does curiosity apply to iOS developers?
- Do you need a computer science degree to be an iOS developer?
- How to break down a huge project into manageable parts
- How to find your purpose in life
Jordanna Kwok
We speak to Jordanna about managing the mobile team at Netflix, how she hires great developers, and what it takes to build a great app.
Managing teams
- Introduction
- What made you move from being an iOS developer to an engineering manager?
- How long did it take to stop missing coding?
- How did your team respond to expanding?
- What is your approach to handling mistakes in your team?
- How to manage a remote team of developers
Recruitment and interviewing
- What makes someone stand out amongst developer job applications?
- What specific skills sets are you looking for when hiring an iOS developer?
- How to attract a diverse range of job applicants
- What is the Netflix interview process?
- What are the most common mistakes developers make during job interviews?
- How important is cultural fit at Netflix?
- What is the process if a new developer doesn't do well?
Building a great app
- Why did Netflix move from UIWebView to UIKit?
- How much is A/B testing driving app development at Netflix?
- How is the Netflix app so efficient?
- How do you keep your team up to date with tech changes?
- What drove Netflix to implement autoplay when viewing a movie detail view?
- What is your approach to supporting old iOS versions?
- Do you ever borrow ideas from competing apps?
- Wrap up
About these transcripts
These interviews were recorded live on YouTube, with questions from myself and from the audience. Transcribing them into a format that is easy to follow took a lot of work, but it's more than worth it so that everyone can find them regardless of their access needs.
In order to make these as useful as possible, these are edited transcripts. Sometimes folks make false starts when talking, they say something then correct themselves, or they lose their train of thought – all things our brain handles great when you hear it live, but can be confusing when written down as a transcript. This is particularly confusing when used with screenreaders such as VoiceOver.
As a result, we've lightly edited these transcripts to make them easier to follow. If you'd like to see the originals for yourself, they are all on YouTube.
