S Link
Beginning iOS 9 Programming with Swift (30% off)
With the announcement of Swift 2, it is clear that Swift is the path forward for iOS development. If you’re still doing Objective-C, now is the best time to start learning Swift. Our beginner books covers the whole aspect of Swift programming and iOS 9 development, and shows you every step from an idea to a real app on App Store. We have a special discount of 30% off for this month!
Contentful: an API-first content backend with a Swift-based SDK
When content is not hardcoded, it's a pleasure to maintain. Contentful helps push content into mobile apps via its JSON API. Contentful focuses on making development simpler: there are SDKs for many platforms, including one for iOS, watchOS and OS X (based on Swift 2). We invite you to try Contentful, the most developer-friendly CMS.
Swift Around the Web
Swift 2.0: API Availability Checking
Love the idea of combining the new availability syntax with guard! Also learn about the difference between #available and @available, and what the * is for.
Swift 2: Control Flow Pattern Matching Examples
"Swift 2 grants to all enums the power of
if let, and much more. Pattern matching and control flow logic work together, meaning that one no longer needs to (for example) writefor-inloops whose bodies consist of a singleswitchstatement, or alternate nestingifandswitchstatements."
This article goes into super technical detail on how to use the power of the new Swift 2 pattern matching syntax to eliminate the need for a number of patterns we've become used to since Swift came out. Time to rewire the brain... AGAIN!
Coding
ChromaTouch: a 3D Touch Colour Picker in Swift
"colour" 🙈, but other than that, a simple project to get you up and running with 3D Touch's force, peek, pop and preview actions. Source code here.
Using Xcode Targets
Great post on how to manage multiple development platforms in your Xcode project (looking at you WatchOS and tvOS!).
Apple News
Xcode 7.1 beta 2 Now Available
"If you thought Apple was slowing down with Swift, think again. Xcode 7.1 Beta 2 includes Swift 2.1." – love this quote from Russ Bishop on Swift 2.1.
You can find the release notes here. I'm personally most excited about this Swift 2.1 improvement:
"Expressions interpolated in strings may now contain string literals. For example,
"My name is \ (attributes["name"]!)"is now a valid expression"
Ok, and this one is pretty awesome:
"Editing a file no longer triggers a recompile of files that depend on it if the edits only modify declarations marked
private."
Also, check out @ericasadun's Swift 2.1 post for another great summary of changes, especially when it comes to playgrounds.
Swift 2 Apps in the App Store
"OS X El Capitan requires Xcode 7, which includes Swift 2, native support for System Integrity Protection (SIP), app thinning, as well as the latest SDKs. When running Xcode 7 you may notice a number of syntactical changes need to be applied to your Swift 1.2 code. To help in your migration to Swift 2, Xcode 7 includes a helpful tool to re-write older Swift code for you. Just select the menu item Edit > Convert > To Latest Swift Syntax and Xcode will migrate your code to the latest Swift API and syntax."
Design
3D Touch on new iPhones: Push to activate touchpad, move your cursor and select text. World changed.
😍
Rick Astley's Apple Watch. (Look closely.)
You know you want to watch this now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. Happy Monday!
Other Cool Stuff
Videos
Let’s Play: Refactor the Mega-Controller
Well, that was fast... the first few videos from NSSpain are up! Including "Let’s Play: Refactor the Mega-Controller" by @andy_matuschak, which I mentioned last week. Really, a must watch!
I also highly recommend ashleynh's talk on Humanities X Technology if you haven't seen it before! 🍷
Functional Reactive Programming in an Imperative World
@NachoSoto explains functional reactive programming by writing the same functionality using both paradigms
Functional Voodoo
Swift Optionals, Functional Programming, and You
"The power of functors and monads is not the fact that you can sound like a snob hipster when you mention them, but actually that you can use
mapandflatMap."
WATCH
watchOS 2 and embedded frameworks
The pain is real! This hack involves modifying the project.pbxproj file... use at your own risk!
Swift Code
- SigmaSwiftStatistics - A collection of functions for statistical calculation in iOS and OS X written in Swift.
- MOJailBrokenDector - Detect if your iOS device is jailbroken.
- ViewMonitor - ViewMonitor can measure View positions with accuracy. This library is to check design sheet from native app.
- SnappingSlider - A beautiful slider control for iOS built purely upon Swift
- Blurable - Apply a Gaussian Blur to any UIView with Swift Protocol Extensions
Business
Swift Thoughts
"New-number iPhones (4, 5, 6) are about showing off Apple’s design prowess. The S models are about showing off Apple’s engineering prowess." – The iPhones 6S by Daring Fireball
Still waiting on my Rose Gold iPhone 6S, but I did participate in a communal unboxing of my friend's Rose Gold iPhone (it does look Rose Gold and gorgeous!).
The first thing we all did was try out 3D Touch, and I was really impressed, especially with the taptic feedback part! I cannot be more excited to see what we all build with it now that we have a device to test on :)
P.S. Yes, I did see the #SuperBloodMoon last night! Although I was in San Francisco, this DC moon picture is my favorite. Wow! Siri has already put #SuperBloodMoon on my calendar for 2033!