I wrote up a list of Apple (iOS, iPadOS, macOS) developer resources that are not directly from Apple. (Perhaps obviously, if you are wanting to get into developing for Apple’s platforms, developer.apple.com should probably be your first stop. This was written for someone who wanted links to other sites they should know about.)
I figured since I spent a bit of time compiling these, I’d re-post them here.
- If you still feel like you’re getting a handle on Swift syntax, (or just want to brush up and/or clarify optionals), I highly recommend the Unwrap app. It was instrumental for me when I first started learning Swift.
- Similarly (on the topic of Swift syntax) https://swiftly.dev/ is a nice “cheat sheet” style site with a lot of topics. (Made by a local dude!) He also made https://iosref.com/ which is another “cheat sheet” for various device-specific info.
- All Apple developers should at least know there is a book on Swift Language syntax. Importantly, it’s updated for every new version, and you probably don’t want the version that’s currently in beta, so be aware of which one you’re reading. Also, that link is to the overall swift.org documentation, which has a bunch of other semi-interesting stuff listed too.
- The Swift Package Index should probably be the first place you look for swift packages. Apple is a sponsor.
- I read iOS Dev Weekly when it hits my inbox every Friday. Might not be as much beginner content there, but it’s definitely the main way I “keep up” on interesting blogs and viewpoints. The intro usually touches on any news I should be aware of as well. (The author is also the maintainer/founder of the Swift Package Index.)
Some blogs that I find myself on regularly (with really nice articles):
- NSHipster is kind of in-between a blog and a reference site. It used to feel more important than it does to me now, but it’s still a really nice set of articles on some of the tricker topics you might encounter.
- Hacking With Swift is a source of SO MANY good articles. I have this one on SF Symbols bookmarked, as it’s the definitive guide, IMO.
- Swift By Sundel has a TON of excellent articles, and this link (the “Discover” tab) feels especially full of “required reading”. The author uses a very nice static site generator written in Swift, called Publish, on Github.
There are also a couple of relevant and local (to the Twin Cities, where I’m based, in Minnesota, USA) developer meetups:
- Our local Cocoaheads chapter merged with a meetup.com TCiDev group several years back. They have a joint Slack that has a not-zero number of posts per month (but it’s close).
- SwiftMN is sort of the new-kid on the block. It obviously didn’t exist until Swift came about, and I was a late Swift convert (didn’t start using it until version 4), so I’ve only been to a few meetings. They have a mostly-dead slack also.