It' Been Awhile Since I .. Had Windows 10.. An Apple dropped my way!
!! Update: Still using a Mac BUT moved to my other hobby.. Hardware! Now a problem I found out about hardware development is all the development products are Win10 based! So now i'm back using Win10 again! In case if you wondering WHAT hardware i'm talking about, it is hardware that can be used in robotics. So now I am considering adding to this topic stream a site for robotics... so keep an eye out for this if interested! I just want to say thanks for visiting!!
Humm... sounds familiar... wasn't that a song back in the 80s? ...
Well that is what it feels like writing this post! You're probably wondering what I meant by the comment. Well if you seen any of my other posts you know that I like hardware and software. Back then I did a LOT of study into what I could do with the Raspberry Pi and to see if it was possible to be able to use it as a stand alone desktop computer and I can say it was successful!
Then I thought I would play with some Windows 10. I did and it was mostly with Visual Studio! One problem I've always have with Windows 10 is the working environment was tedious after using it for awhile.
Well, I decided to fire up my Mac Mini again and it just feels good to be back home again! I did several experiments using Parallels Desktop just because there were some programs that I liked in Windows and this gave me a way to use Win10 on the Mac, or Linux, or Solarus UNIX! You can tell I was a BIG expermenter! Now that was exciting experience but I learned it to the max too.. But it started to get boring again .. Win10. Ok now I said enough is enough! So back to the Mac environment!
Now that I was back on the right track, I jumped in to Xcode. Xcode is the Mac's way to develop software on the Mac. It has been around since the beginning, but because I was a Windows guy, I never got to really use it!
When I started out, I knew nothing about a Mac... Why? I was a die hard Windows guy! Well when I got tired with anything Windows, I wanted to take a look at the other guys.. and I was very impressed... impressed in the hardware, op-system and most likely the size! But I always had a bad feeling that the price to get one was way out of my league... reason being I was looking at the BIG All In One systems... you know big monitor.. where is the computer!
Very nice BUT my eyes poped out of my head... What!!? Price!!! Mac dreams killed!
But I saw something new ... MiNi?? What!!??
Big plus.. small .. er tiny! Price was more than Windows... but the OP System was so simple. This little Mac was like its big brother but it has the power and the OP System was so simple and clean to use! But What about the monitor.. I didn't want any monitor. I wanted an Apple monitor! So I looked around for a refurbished 27" older Mac 27" monitor and found one for less that $300 to $500! I think I payed for a used one in good condition for about $450! It looks like this one but it is all silver metal case:
It came fully protected and looks like brand new! I was totally happy! I searched and got a set of Apple cables with video converter to mate it to a Mac too ( this was an older model monitor that had the older style connectors. It been working well for over 8+ years now! You just have to search for whatever cables is needed for your Mac model.
Well finally I needed the Mac Mini. Mine is the older 2012 model but the new ones have more ports and ram plus a faster processor! I bought mine as a used model but was guaranteed to run with the Mac OS installed. When I got it, plugged in the cables and followed the instructions, it was that simple! It has since then been updated thru 3 op system revisions plus maxed out with 16 gigs of fast memory and max out with 2 1TB hard drives! Any additional storage is using WD 4TB USB drives.. and I have several! This Mac has been so reliable that I love the op system. Whenever there is a problem with the drive, the OS takes over and during a reboot corrects the error. When it reboots it is as if nothing has happened.. it is that simple!
And the Apple desktop is so intuitive and fun to work with... it all make sense! Very user friendly!
Now so much about hardware, I want software!
So I started reading 2 great books that really fit this area. If you really want to get serious programming on the Mac, these are a must have. They are basically a set of books for anybody interested into getting into the software development on the Mac. They are recommended to be used together, but the author recommends you study it like this. Here is the Amazon links:
This gets you started in Swift programming and Cocoa basics while learning XCode!
2nd: Programming IOS 12
This picks up where the 1st book ends and gives you groundwork for building apps!
Both of these are written by Matt Neuburg and he is excellent being a teacher!
Like I said above, if you want to make software on the Mac while learning the total process of what Xcode can do, this is the way I took.
Also if you want to see what Xcode is all about click on the link below!
Also while you are there, Apple has a HUGE section for becoming an actual Apple Developer! This is what really got me interested in Apple and Xcode. They have tons of videos and training materials. Also another thing I really look forward to is their 2 biggie online presentations on what the current state of Apple company and development seminars. I really look forward to these every year!
This alone beats the other guys by a long shot and this is what I did to get started!
OH! Most important is all this is free !FREEBIE! to get started! .. not the hardware!
What if you should get to the point that you want to !!SELL!! what you make!
So I hope this introduction of how I got started will help you in your future dreams of
becoming an Apple software developer! Apple has you covered in all aspects. You can't go wrong... sorry Windows!
Hey if all this helps you going the Apple direction, I would wholeheartedly want to hear from you! I wish you luck in any of your future endeavors and I am here to help!
Barry Selk
bdspvl@gmail.com
Attn: Apple Help Needed!
No comments:
Post a Comment