Rob Percival | Writing about coding in schools, teaching app development and technology in education

Android App Roundup

March 24, 2016 / No Comments / Posted in: Apps, The Complete Android Developer Course

Welcome to another roundup of published apps. Here we’re featuring some fun educational apps as well as an addictive game created by students of the Complete Android Developer Course.

Bubble Whiz

bubble whizz First up we have Bubble Whiz which is a tapping game that relies on timing and reactions. Quite a simple concept where a penguin in a bubble floats upwards but is intent to hit the wall. The idea is to tap on the edge of the bubble just before it hits the wall. If you tap too soon then the bubble will burst. As the penguin in the bubble floats higher the width of the walls will change.

Admittedly this is a rather addictive if not frustrating at times game. Definitely worth a go and you can check it out from the Play Store.

Candy Smash

You’ve all heard of Candy Crush but this is Kids Candy Smash! It’s a great looking game with some good music to accompany it. Similar to Candy Crush you have to match letters to in a row to clear rows and columns. You have to match three letters of the same type to clear them. Despite the title of the game it’s perfectly acceptable for adults to play this game also.

Take a look at Kids Candy Smash here.

Dental Care

dental Think you know about dental care? This app will not only provide you information about dental care but provides a guide for proper brushing technique and times you as you do it. There’s a collection of articles on home remedies for dental issues such as sensitivity and bleeding gums. You can even set an alarm to remind yourself to brush if you need reminding.

Don’t under estimate the simplicity of an app. It’s got quite a few positive reviews so far so it must be worth taking a look.

Table Trainer

Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 18.40.32 Even as adults we can neglect basic arithmetic. Table Trainer is an app which will help you remember your multiplication table. It will allow you to test your self up to your ten times table where you present the answers in the form of multiple choice answers.

Critics would say there are quite a few very similar apps out there already but it’s important as a developer to get your first working app published which is an achievement itself. Hopefully this is the first of many from androidappfactory.nl and you can check out Table Trainer from here.

Success Story - Abi Farand

March 10, 2016 / No Comments / Posted in: Success Stories

After being made redundant for health reasons Abi started to learn to code online from a number of e-learning courses. After completing The Complete Web Developer Course she started her own web development company FarEnd Designs - great name! She now has the free freedom to work wherever she likes and makes her own hours.

I worked for many years in the NHS as a data analyst. Then I developed a long term illness and ended up eventually being made redundant on the grounds of health. While I was off sick from work I kept sane by doing various online courses. Initially I started learning java and doing some basic desktop programs. Then I bought your Complete web developer course and started to learn HTML, CSS and WordPress.

From the very beginning I found The Complete Web Developer Course to be both engaging and informative. The pace of all of Rob’s courses is just right. Not so slow that you get bored, but also not so fast that you miss things. He always provides working examples rather than talking in the abstract.

I’ve taken a lot of different online courses in various subjects and think that Rob’s course and teaching style is one of the best. Since taking the course I’ve recommended it to tons of people, not only is it great to learn development but it’s also perfect for people that are involved in web development (like project managers or designers) to help them get an overview of the technologies.

The biggest eureka moment was reading your earn while you learn book. I had no idea that there were sites like freelancer where I could actually get work. When I finally realised I’d have to leave my job I decided to risk it and do freelance work full time. I continued to build up my skills and gradually get more and more small projects on freelancer. It was tricky at first to get the right balance but as my skill and portfolio grew it became easier.

I continued to use your course along with a few others to keep developing my skills.

18 months later most of my work is small, fast turn around websites usually with WordPress. I also build WordPress plugins and have a number of regular clients, meaning I don’t often have to go looking for new work.

I love web development. I love that I can work anywhere and any time (essential as I’m usually awake at night).

Thanks so much for your great course and the complimentary hosting account which I use every day.

I think everyone will agree that Abi has done very well for herself! You can also check out Abi’s freelance website at http://farenddesigns.co.uk/. Well done Abi!

iOS App Roundup

February 25, 2016 / No Comments / Posted in: Apps, The Complete iOS Developer Course

Here’s another roundup of apps created using Xcode7 and Swift 2 with a bit of guidance from The Complete iOS9 Developer Course. It’s really great to see lots of apps submitted this month. The only down side is that I can only cover a small number of them. All apps here are available on the Apple App Store.

T Zee Bird

Could this be the new Flappy bird? It’s a top down game where you have a birds eye view (no pun intended) and you only have two directions where you move your bird either left or right to avoid formations of birds which comes from the other direction.

A very simple game which is enjoyable and addictive but best of all it’s FREE and available from the App Store.

Leaflets

leaflets

Leaflets is a very interesting social networking app with an interesting concept! You can post articles based on categories or interests like food or gaming. The interface is really clean and well designed. It’s going to be interesting to see how this app evolves as the user base increases.

Definitely worth taking a look.

Letter Grab

lettergrab

There’s quite a lot of word games available but what sets Letter Grab is a little different. The author describes it as “playing hangman… on an air hockey table… where letters avoid you, and often get in the way”.

So the app not only exercises the brain but tests your patience as well. You can have a look at Letter Grab from the App Store.

iCountHabits

Do you want to keep track of the number of times you drink a glass of water a day? Or the number of pages you intend to read in a book? Maybe you intend to exercise daily and intend to perform a number of pushups or situps? If so this app is for you!

The app allows you to setup your habits and set a number for that habit where you can record the number of times you have engaged in that activity. Quite a useful app to track your goals or habits. Check it out here!

FMC

fmc

FMC or Find My Car is an app which allows the user to store certain locations which you can recall later. The intention is if you have to park your car in a place you’re not familiar with, you can use the app to save the location and navigate back there later on.

So quite useful if you in unfamiliar territory. FMC is available from the App Store.

If you have published an app you would like to share. Contact Rob by Twitter, Facebook or email.

Setting Up Parse Server On Heroku For iOS & Android

February 20, 2016 / 17 Comments / Posted in: Uncategorized

This is a guide to setting up Parse Server on Heroku, and connecting to it with an iOS app (the Android version is coming soon). It assumes no knowledge of any Heroku, Github or Parse Server, and no coding skills are required. Enjoy!

You’ll need the following links:

My version of the Parse Server Example (official version is here)

My version of the Parse Server Starter Xcode Project, also available here (official SDK is here)

My version of the Parse Starter Android Studio Project, also available here (official SDK is here)

iOS Setup instructions:

Success Story - Oksana King

February 15, 2016 / 1 Comment / Posted in: Success Stories, The Complete Web Developer Course

Although Oskana did have some coding experience, she subscribed to the Complete Web Developer Course and went through the video tutorials to not only to refresh her skills but find a new job with these skills.

Oskana It was exactly a year ago when I got interested in web development. I had done a degree in teaching IT which included some programming but forgotten nearly everything after 8 years out of practice, and was teaching English in a language school in Oxford. Before leaving for France for 5 months, my partner, who is a developer, suggested signing up for a Complete Web Developer course on www.udemy.com and I thought ‘Hey why not, and it is discounted as well’. So began the long winter of 2014, with my boyfriend seasoneering in the Alps and me learning to code everyday after work. I guess because he was away I managed to get through a lot of the course and learnt more than in 5 years of being at university! By the end of the course I was determined to change jobs - with my thirst for knowledge I knew that web development would suit me as I would need to keep abreast of changes in this constantly evolving area.

I must say that getting a job with no experience whatsoever was not easy at all, and I was very sceptical of Rob’s claims that you can earn money while learning to code. I registered on various websites, sent a lot of applications for junior positions and internships (which paid half of what I was earning) to no avail, or just to get a reply that I didn’t have experience (unfortunately, a lot of Junior Dev positions require some sort of commercial experience). On the positive side, I did receive a lot of calls from recruitment agencies who were looking for experienced coders, and realising how many jobs there are made me persevere with applying and further developing my skills.

I finally managed to get an interview for a Junior Developer position in a small marketing agency and as they work in C# I thought I wouldn’t get the job -my knowledge of C# was non-existent.In the interview I was asked why I wanted to change jobs so drastically, if I had any experience, what kind of things I´ve been working on in my free time. Of course, I mentioned projects like Weather Predictor and Secret diary and explained how they work. I think the interviewers probably realised that I´d only gone back to programming recently, but I like to think that they saw how passionate and determined I was about web development.

Imagine my surprise when I got the job offer! I was ecstatic and a bit scared at the same time - teaching English and coding are so different and I only knew the basics of web development. I accepted the offer and I haven’t had any regrets despite longer hours and travel distances, lower salary, a few days less holiday and pushing myself way out of my comfort zone (which a lot of people are afraid to do, I guess). I now maintain existing websites and am currently building a store locator using GoogleAPI.

I really enjoy my job because it is very varied - I use HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery, SQL, C# and ASP.NET, and yes, I am being paid for learning to code! I am very grateful to my employer for putting their trust in me even though they knew I did not have any experience, and to Rob Percival for creating a course that gave me a solid foundation to build up from.

Well done Oksana! Not only did you complete the course but you have built on those skills by getting a job that lets you learn other web developments skills and more importantly, you enjoy it!

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