by Monte Thakkar
MobileSpace — A story about my passions
My journey to discovering, learning, and teaching iOS development
“Let this be the first thing you hear from me… I am probably not the smartest software engineer you will meet. With that said, I am certain that I can teach you a thing or two about software engineering.” — Monte Thakkar
What I have come to understand is that you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to share your knowledge. In fact, you just need to figure out if someone else values what you know and, if so, are they interested in learning it from you.
Step 1: ? Learn
I became interested in developing iOS apps over three years ago, in my junior year at college. My roommate and I talked about our ideas for apps, although I didn’t know how to build them to test out my ideas. This really frustrated me after a while. One day I decided to teach myself iOS development by using all the online resources I could find.
I started by building a simple “To-do list” app for iOS in Objective-C. It was not a fun process. I struggled to learn from various articles, Youtube videos, and outdated tutorials. I eventually finished the app, but it took me a lot longer than I had anticipated.
Step 2: ? Master
Fast forward eight months. I graduated from CodePath University’s free iOS Bootcamp in San Francisco, which gave me a solid foundation to develop iOS apps. This enabled me to work on more complex and challenging mobile apps.
I also used my new technical skills to help build an MVP iOS app for Deckstr, a (remote) startup. Deckstr wanted to establish a professional social network by giving its users the ability to share virtual business cards.
In hindsight, I learned that the most exciting way to learn iOS development is by working face-to-face with people who know what they are talking about.
Here are the two reasons why:
- The mistakes of beginners can be extremely easy to fix in the presence of an experienced developer. Having an experienced developer present can help to accelerate the learning process for beginners.
- Speaking with an experienced developer can help students scope out their ideas and projects accurately.
Then over the summer I interned at Pillow, where I continued to work on mobile apps using React Native. I learned many technical and non-technical skills from the people I worked with.
By the end of the summer, I felt that the only thing that kept pushing me to learn and challenge myself was my passion for developing great mobile apps.
Step 3: ? Share
Since San Francisco State University (SF State) did not offer a course in iOS development, I felt this robbed students the opportunity to discover their passion for developing mobile apps. Hence I decided to do something about it.
Enter MobileSpace
“A weekly meetup, in San Francisco, that enables developers to build their own mobile apps, by providing an excellent in-person community that teaches iOS development and helps accelerate project completion.”
During that time, a few of my friends talked about wanting to collaborate on building an iOS app. A few others had expressed interest in learning how to build iOS apps. Also, I found myself being involved in many side projects to which I had very little time to commit. I decided to start a mobile development meetup.
Every weekend the meetup allowed anyone that was interested to learn to or collaborate on building iOS apps meetup. This would build a community of developers who were willing to set aside a few hours each weekend to learn and teach mobile development. That was the idea behind MobileSpace.
In the following weeks after I committed to the idea, I set up the website for MobileSpace, which provided information to interested students about MobileSpace, such as the time and date for weekly meetings.
I also created an application form, with which anyone who is interested can fill out and apply. Following that, I developed the course curriculum for MobileSpace. I built several beginner level iOS apps, as well as recorded Youtube tutorials for students to follow and learn.
Lastly, information about MobileSpace was posted in the weekly Computer Science department newsletter to get interested students to sign up. To my surprise, I received over 34 applications within the first 24 hours.
Results
- The meetups lasted approximately three months and met every weekend at San Francisco State University
- At it’s peak, the community was 15 members strong
- Students built three iOS apps in Swift 3, from start to finish, using Youtube tutorials, online resources, as well as provided code snippets
- Six students successfully completed the iOS course, and they attended every meetup
- One alumni is currently working as a full-time iOS Engineer in SF State, and three are pursuing a career in iOS development
“MobileSpace helped jumpstart my career as an iOS developer. After learning the basics, I’ve successfully launched an app on the App Store, and my interest in iOS development [has grown] tremendously. I was hooked on iOS development after MobileSpace” - Sang Saephan (Alumni)
Lessons Learned
- Since I was leading MobileSpace by myself, there were times when things got really busy. I was still finishing up school and working part-time at Pillow at the same time. Hence I found myself pulling all-nighters just to record Youtube tutorials and to organize weekly assignments for MobileSpace.
⭐ Take away: If I decide to do MobileSpace again, I’d definitely have someone help me lead the course.
- MobileSpace was entirely free for anyone to attend. I had put in a lot of time and effort to make sure students were spending their time well and learning something new at each meetup. Towards the end, I would’ve liked to have organized a company tour for them as a reward for finishing the course.
⭐ Take away: I’d be open to receiving sponsorship from one or more companies that wants to support free education.
Conclusion
Overall, I am extremely delighted that I was able to share my technical knowledge about iOS apps through MobileSpace. I was able to help others discover their passion for building mobile apps. I am also grateful that I was able to provide them with a stepping stone to help them kickstart their professional careers.
I have always been passionate about technology and teaching. I am glad that through MobileSpace I was able to explore both passions. And I was able to make a positive impact while doing so. As I grow my skill sets, I’ll do my best to share the knowledge that I have and help the people around me grow as well.