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Meetups Programming

Learn about Java’s evolution at tonight’s meetup!

Want to attend? Register on Meetup!

Here’s another tech meetup coming back to the scene: the Tampa Java User Group is gathering tonight at the Vaco offices (4030 W Boy Scout Road, near International Mall), where Ammar Yusuf and Sam Kasimalla will present the evolution of Java. They’ll go version by version, showing what features were added to the language and platform.

The event starts at 5:30 and will include ample time for networking. They’ll also have food, and they’re even working on getting stuff for people on various diets, including keto.

Want to attend? Register on Meetup!

Categories
Meetups Mobile Programming Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay Apple Coding Meetup needs a place for its sessions!

I’m ready to starting holding sessions of Tampa Bay Apple Coding Meetup, but I’m missing one thing: a place to hold them!

Prior to the pandemic, I’d been doing monthly meetups where I’d walk Tampa Bay’s developers through “code along with me” tutorials where I’d show them how to write native iOS apps in Swift such as:

  • A simple text editor
  • Pomodoro timer
  • “Magic 8-ball”
  • Weather app with geolocation
  • “Frogger” / “Crossy Road”-style game
  • An augmented reality app similar to the IKEA furniture app
  • A machine learning app that can identify specific images

It’s time to bring these meetups back!

I need a place in the Tampa Bay area where I can lead a group through an exercise where we get together and build an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, or augmented reality app together. If you’d like to host such an event or know someone or some organization that would be willing to do this, please let me know via email.

Categories
Programming

There’s nothing wrong with doing this before pushing to Github

2-panel meme. Panel 1: Cat, with caption “Code I wrote to make it work.” Panel 2: Same cat, but now wearing a tuxedo, with caption “Code I push to Git.”

I think we all understand that the poster actually means GitHub rather than Git. Personally, I think that cleaning up your code before putting it on Github is a good thing — after all, Harold Abelson put it best:

Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.

Categories
Meetups Mobile Programming Tampa Bay

Tampa’s iOS meetup is coming back as Tampa Bay Apple Coding!

I’m bringing back the Tampa iOS Meetup in 2023 under a new name: Tampa Bay Apple Coding Meetup. If you’re in the Tampa Bay area and want to learn how to program Apple devices in Swift, this meetup will be for you!

I’ve got a fair bit of experience showing people how to build applications for Apple devices and technologies, from doing presentations on coding augmented reality apps for the iPhone…

…to co-authoring the book on iOS development…

…to writing all sorts of apps:

These meetups will follow my usual modus operandi:

  • We’ll define a simple app that we want to make for the iPhone/iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or other Apple device.
  • Then we’ll look at the tools and techniques that will allow us to create that app.
  • And finally, you’ll code along with me as we build the app together. You’ll leave the meetup with either a complete app, or at least a part of the app that you can continue working on.

The goal is to help you learn coding or sharpen your skills by building apps for the preferred devices of the digerati!

I’m currently working on getting a space for the first meetup of Tampa Bay Apple Coding in January — watch this space for announcements!

To find out more, see the Tampa Bay Apple Coding meetup page.

Categories
Programming Video

Watch my new “Advent of Code Tips and Tricks” video!

I’ve got a new video on Auth0 by Okta’s YouTube channel that helps you get started with Advent of Code — check it out!

Advent of Code is an annual event featuring Christmas-themed puzzles that are meant to be solved with code. Since 2015, tens of thousands of programmers have tackled the new puzzles that appear every day from December 1 through 25 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Eastern standard time).

If you’ve been working on the same sort of programming problems day in and day out and feel that you’re in a coding rut, Advent of Code is a great way to sharpen your skills. If you’re learning a new programming language, Advent of Code’s challenges are a great way to discover the in and outs of your new language. If you’re interviewing for a developer position and a coding exercise is part of the process, Advent of Code can help prepare you.

In the video, I’ll walk you through the solutions for Day 1 of the 2015 and 2020 Advent of Code in Python. Combined with my Advent of Code article on the Auth0 by Okta blog, which covers even more challenges, it should help you get started with this year’s Advent of Code!

Categories
Mobile Programming

Add Auth0 authentication to your Jetpack Compose Android apps!

My newest article on the Auth0 Developer Blog is a two-part that covers adding authentication to Android apps built using the Jetpack Compose UI framework!

Here are the two parts:

  1. Jetpack Compose Basics: An introduction to Jetpack Compose through building a single-screen app with composable functions and managing state the Jetpack Compose Way.
  2. Adding authentication: Taking the app from part one and adding Auth0 authentication.

I’m working on the companion video for the article as I write this — keep an eye out for it!

Categories
Meetups Programming Tampa Bay What I’m Up To

Tampa Devs’ “Mobile App Development” meetup has been postponed [Update]

Tropical storm/hurricane Nicole update (Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2:00 p.m.)

With tropical storm Nicole expected to become a hurricane before bearing down on Florida tonight this event has been postponed until further notice. Keep an eye on the Meetup page for details.

Tampa Devs’ next meetup is tomorrow, and it’s on a topic that’s close to my heart: Mobile Development and Digital Nomad Lifestyles!

The Meetup

The main talk will feature André Crabb — a “once digital nomad settled in Tampa” — talking about “mobile app development, its evolution, and life as a digital nomad.” His talk outline includes:

  • Evolution of mobile development
  • Existing frameworks
  • Android
  • iOS
  • React Native + Expo
  • Other frameworks, but in not as great in detail as the ones above
  • Lifestyle of a digital nomad

Here’s the schedule:

  • 6:00 – 6:30 pm: Networking
  • 6:30 – 7:00pm: Intro slides + quick game
  • 7:00 – 7:30 pm: Lightning talks, 5-10 minute talks anyone can come speak
  • 7:30 – 9:00 pm – Main talk + networking time

This meetup will take place at USF in the “Education Building,” a.k.a. EDU 115, located on 4110 USF Apple Drive:

The event is free to attend — register on their Meetup page — and I’ll see you there!