Course Structure

• Lectures: Once a week, 1.5 hours each.
• Assignments: 5 homework assignments, and 1 team final project.

Attendance Policy

• You are allowed 2 free absences before deductions are made.
• If for some reason you cannot make a lecture for a week, you may join the other section for full attendance.
  • You do not have to ask us beforehand for permission.
• If you are unable to attend class due to a health-related reason or family emergency, please let us know on Ed.

Late Policy

• You will be given 10 late days throughout the semester.
  • A maximum of 5 can be used on a single assignment.
  • Late days cannot be used on the final project.
  • Late days are automatically applied. You do not have to let us know beforehand.
• Any late submissions made outside this policy will receive a 0%, unless an exception applies.
• If you are unable to submit an assignment due to a health-related reason or family emergency, please let us know on Ed.

AI Policy

• You may use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools, but we advise against relying on them.
  • AI-based tools are usually outdated on iOS development practices - oftentimes, ChatGPT will give you way more code (both in terms of quantity and complexity) than you actually need to implement.
• We suggest starting and writing up the code structure on your own, and then potentially using ChatGPT to fill in the blanks.
  • Relying on AI from the start may lead to UI and logic bugs that are difficult to debug later down the line.
• At the very least, make sure to understand every line you write.

Grading

• Attendance and Participation: 10%
• Homework Assignments: 60%
  • HW0: 20 points
  • HW1-4: 100 points each
• Final Project: 30%

Topics Covered

For a weekly schedule, consult the schedule page.

Week 1: Introduction to iOS Development and Xcode

• Overview of the iOS platform and its evolution.`
• Installing Xcode and understanding its interface.
• Creating a simple "Hello, World!" app in Xcode.
• Introduction to the Swift Playgrounds for experimenting with Swift code.

Week 2: Swift Basics

• Swift language fundamentals: variables, constants, data types.
• Control Flow: if-else statements, loops, switch cases.
• Functions: declaration, parameters, return types.
• Structs, classes, and protocols.
• Basic error handling in Swift.

Week 3: SwiftUI Fundamentals

• Introduction to SwiftUI and its declarative syntax.
• Building basic user interfaces: Text, Image, Button.
• Understanding the SwiftUI layout system: VStack, HStack, ZStack.
• Modifiers: applying basic modifiers to SwiftUI views.
• Lists and scrolling views.
• Sidebar: Debugging tools in Xcode: breakpoints, console, and debugging commands.

Week 4: SwiftUI State Management

• View hierarchy in SwiftUI.
• Data passing and state management in views.
• Property wrappers in SwiftUI: @State, @Binding, @ObservedObject, @StateObject, @EnvironmentObject.
• Building forms and handling user input: Button, TextField, .onChange.
• Basic animations and transitions in SwiftUI.

Week 5: App Lifecycle and Structure

• Lifecycle events: onAppear, onDisappear.
• Navigation in SwiftUI: NavigationStack, NavigationLink. TabView.
• MVVM (model–view–viewmodel) architecture.
• Modal presentations: .sheet, .alert.

Week 6: Custom Views & Event Handling

• GeometryReader, safe area.
• SwiftUI shapes, .fill/.stroke.
• Understanding event propagation and handling in iOS.
• Keyboard handling and text input events.
• Custom gesture recognition in SwiftUI.

Week 7: Working with Sensors

• Accessing device sensors: GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope.
• Using Core Motion to access motion data.
• Handling location data with Core Location.
• Practical use cases of sensor data in apps.

Week 8: Networking in iOS

• Making HTTP requests and handling responses (async/await).
• Working with URLSession for network tasks.
• Parsing JSON data and integrating it into the app.
• Error handling and network best practices.

Week 9: Data Persistence

• Introduction to UserDefaults for simple data storage.
• Using Core Data for complex data models and persistent storage.
• CRUD operations in Core Data.
• File management: reading and writing files on the device.
• Other data storages: Keychain, SwiftData

Week 10: UIKit & UIKit Integration with SwiftUI

• UIKit basics: MVC architecture in iOS.
• Integrating UIKit in SwiftUI: using UIViewRepresentable.
• User interaction in UIKit: event and input management.
• Combining UIKit & SwiftUI: navigation and data sharing strategies.

Week 11: App Design and User Experience

• The UI design process: steps toward a UI from scratch.
• Design principles for mobile apps: clarity, efficiency, consistency.
• Multi-platform and OS version compatibility: adapting to different devices.
• Accessibility in iOS: making apps accessible to all users.

Week 12: Bonus Lecture (TBD)

Potential Topics:

• Advanced UI/UX Design Concepts (Animations, Transitions, AR/voice-based Interfaces)
• Integrating Machine Learning with Core ML
• Augmented Reality with ARKit
• Designing Home Screen Widgets with WidgetKit
• Apple Watch and Wearable Integration
• Internet of Things (IoT) and HomeKit
• …

Final Project

• Duration: See the Schedule page.
• Team Composition: 3 students per team.
• Objective: Develop a fully functional and creative iOS app.
• Presentation: Demonstrate the app and discuss design and development challenges.