iOS App Development｜Ignite Passion for Continuous Tech Exploration

点击这里查看本文章简体中文版本。

點擊這裡查看本文章正體中文版本。

This post was translated with AI assistance — let me know if anything sounds off!

---

Always Keep the Passion for Exploring New Things

From Entering the IT Field to Transitioning into iOS App Development: A Life Opportunity

Bangkok 2018 - Z Realm — You Are Not Alone on the Road to Solving Problems

Time flies. It has been a full year since I switched from Back End to Mobile iOS APP development, and a full month since I started writing on Medium. For my 10th small milestone post, let me share my personal breakthrough and career transition experience.

Always Keep the Passion for Exploring New Things

“The instinct to explore drives humanity’s greatest achievements.” From Columbus discovering new continents by exploring the seas, the Wright brothers improving airplanes to conquer the skies, to now leaving Earth to explore outer space; only a passion for new things can continuously push us beyond ourselves. We may not be as great as Armstrong, but as he said, “Your small step may be a giant leap for mankind.” Never underestimate your creative potential.

Opportunity

When opportunity comes, grasp it well, because there may not be a second chance; you might hesitate, thinking the next one could be better or fear making the wrong decision, but “Who know s? Does the sun rise first or does the accident come first.” If there is no negative impact, then open your arms and seize the opportunity!

Back in 2009, when I just entered the first year of Chang Gong Comprehensive High School, I accidentally found out that the school was training students to compete in contests. At that time, I thought, “Since I have nothing to do at home, I might as well learn something,” so I signed up. This was the first turning point in my life and marked my entry into the IT field. Joining the training was tough—every day after class, weekends, and during winter and summer vacations for three years, I practiced at school. The risk was high because if I didn’t win any awards, I would gain almost nothing. But in the end, I’m glad I seized that opportunity (I will share more about the emotional journey of being a competitor later).

National Skills Competition - Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor

This opportunity taught me many skills related to dining, design tools like Illustrator/Photoshop/Flash, and engineering languages such as PHP/MySQL/HTML/CSS/Javascript/JQuery. I also earned a championship that granted me admission to Taiwan Tech University. Looking back, I’m really glad I seized this chance!

Fast forward to 2017, I graduated from university and entered the workforce as a backend engineer. Regarding web development, I mainly specialized in backend (Laravel) during university. I didn’t focus much on frontend and mostly used ready-made frameworks (Bootstrap/Semantic UI).

At this point, the bottleneck was staying too long in the same field without any breakthrough development, so I set a new goal for myself:

1. Continue Exploring the Backend Further

2. Conversion Marketing (GA) / Planning Field

3. Learning a New Language / Writing an App

At this point, an opportunity arose as the project I joined was about to start developing a mobile platform app. Initially, I planned to write the API backend using Laravel and some new technologies, which was also a breakthrough for me. Here, I want to mention an important point: when making decisions, you need to look ahead. The reason I initially chose to continue with backend development was due to laziness and the high entry cost—I didn’t have a Mac at the time, and it was a completely new field for me. Fortunately, my supervisor’s advice helped, and I ultimately chose to step into iOS app development.

As of 2018, it has been exactly one year since I started developing iOS apps. What I gained: learning a new language Swift, iOS app development, the satisfaction of publishing my own app, and starting to write on Medium. Fortunately, I seized this opportunity, which opened another door for my career!

Reflections on Transitioning from Backend Engineering to iOS App Development

“Isn’t programming all the same?” Different fields are like different worlds…
Having someone guide you at the beginning helps because many concepts differ from web development. You’ll face a period of frustration, but if you persevere, you’ll see the light of success!
I myself struggled for almost a month. After getting some clarity, you’ll encounter a second wall. At this point, you need to be more resilient, learn from mistakes, and trade time for experience (if you lack time, consider taking an introductory course or finding a mentor).

• Development Environment: Previously, when writing PHP, we used Sublime, typed away, pressed Ctrl+S, then Ctrl+Tab to switch to the browser and Ctrl+R to quickly see the results. Now, with Xcode, we need to deploy to the simulator or device to see the results. This actually helps improve my impatient nature XD.

• Language: Swift is more modern, strongly typed, and structured. It may feel unfamiliar at first, but once you get used to it, it’s no problem.

• Storyboard/Interface Builder: This part lowers the entry barrier for beginners. Starting with coding the interface can be more difficult; you can directly visualize the UI, learn layout, and connect Outlets.

• Memory and Page Layout Structure: This is a key area to pay attention to and where experience gained over time matters; in the past, web development had almost no limits—you could do whatever you wanted. For example, with tables, on the web you just use <table> and run a PHP loop to display data. But in an app, you need to use the UITableView component to implement it (I once used UIView to layout and happily told my manager I was done, only to find a huge memory explosion).
  You also need to be very careful about memory leaks!

• App Launch: APP development requires more caution, and testing must be more thorough. Unlike websites, where errors can be fixed immediately, iOS APP versions must pass review. Bugs cannot be fixed by downgrading, so fixing a bug takes at least a day, greatly affecting users!

• User Reviews: Users can give you the most direct feedback

Five Stars for Warmth, One Heart for Heartache

Summary

@returntothesources

Life is interesting because it is full of uncertainties. When opportunities come, if you choose to seize them, you will gain something; if you choose to let go, the next chance may be better. There is no right or wrong—just trust your intuition: “Choose what you love, love what you choose.”

Expectations for Myself

I’m still a beginner and will continue working on iOS app development, aiming to learn, grow, and find breakthroughs. I also plan to keep writing on Medium. What’s the next opportunity? I’m looking forward to it!

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact me.

---

This post was originally published on Medium (View original post), and automatically converted and synced by ZMediumToMarkdown.

Improve this page on Github.

Follow Me on Medium 1K+ Followers