Live From 360iDev!
360iDev 2011 is in full swing, and it’s been great so far.
My OCMock Session On Sunday
I gave an updated presentation/training session on OCMock Sunday morning entitled “OCMock: Crash Test Dummies For Your Code”. Overall, I was pleased with how it went. It was a three hour session, so we took the first half to briefly discuss what mock objects were about, and then went through the fundamental features of OCMock using test cases to demonstrate each one. The demonstrations led to some good discussion with the group (about 40-50 devs) about testing in general, TDD, and OCMock. I was encouraged by the number of people that participated in the discussion, and I learned as much from it as the group did.
After a break, we talked a little more about how to make good use of mock objects, and then I took the plunge into a live coding session, which is always a risk. To mitigate the risk I had scripted the entire sequence and practiced it several times. I used a simple text file with all the code blocks I needed so I could just talk, cut & paste, and demonstrate each step.
Unfortunately, I chose to veer from the script early on (foolish!), made a simple mistake, and spent 10-15 minutes trying to clear it up. What I should have done was remove what I had just done and get back on script, but I ended up stumbling around and feeling foolish. Eventually, I came to my senses and just opened up the finished project to show what I had intended to do in the first place. Then I was able to mostly, but not completely, return to my script and finished the session a little better (but not great).
Later that afternoon, I reopened the project I had built live during the session and fixed my dumb mistake in under 2 minutes. Oh well, hopefully I’ll remember to stick to the script next time, or approach things differently.
Mingling With Other Developers
One of the best things of a good conference is meeting new colleagues and renewing friendships with folks I haven’t seen since the last conference. Sunday night I had a great time mingling at the opening reception and learned as much from others that night as I did in the sessions. My son Nathan, a recent college grad, is just starting into iOS development and it was great to introduce him to some successful, experienced game and app developers. Hopefully, it provided some great motivation for him, I know it motivated me!
After today’s session, there was more great conversations around dinner with a group of around 20 (and a very accommodating waitress) — more fuel to stoke the fire and excitement about developing cool stuff for iOS devices.
Monday Sessions
I enjoy the variety of sessions at 360iDev. I attended design, development, and business development sessions today and learned from each. All were well done and taught me things I didn’t know or motivated me to improve in areas I’m already doing. I’m looking forward to a lot more great stuff in the next two days.
Looking Forward to the GameJam on Tuesday
Nathan and I will be working together at the GameJam tomorrow night, and I’m really looking forward to see what we can come up with! I’ve really enjoyed past GameJams, and I’m sure this will be even better working together. Santiago & Charlie (two young 360iDev veterans) are back again, and it will be great to have them at the GameJam again as well!
I’m going to try to call it a night early tonight so I have the energy for a late night session tomorrow.
I’d encourage anyone who does iOS for a living or a hobby, full or part time, to consider 360iDev next year — it is a great investment that pays great dividends.
This is my first post on the new iDevBlogADay schedule, and since I missed my first slot of the new schedule, I am thankful for the forgiving nature of the new style.
We all need the support of others to do our best work. Find other like-minded developers that will provide encouragement and motivation through local user groups, conferences or meetups. A great collection of indie iOS developers have helped me stay on track through meetups, 360iDev, twitter, and iDevBlogADay.
I regularly attend Cocoa/iPhone developer meetups in Cincinnati, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio. If you are in the central or southwest Ohio area, come join me at either monthly meetup:
- Cincinnati CocoaDev, iOS and Mac development group, meets the 3rd Thursday of each month in Mason, Ohio
- Columbus iPhone Developers User Group (CIDUG), meets the 4th Tuesday of each month in Dublin, Ohio
Finally, here is a little more information about me, Doug Sjoquist, and how I came to my current place in life. You should follow me on twitter and subscribe to my blog. Have a great day!
