Apple’s primary programming language, Swift has been growing in popularity over the years. To further support the growth of its develop community, the Cupertino giant has today announced a new app development curriculum. This course is strictly aimed at older individuals, namely high-schooler and college students, who’re interested in creating fully-functional iPhone apps.
This new curriculum adds to the company’s existing courses and initiatives, such as Swift Playgrounds. It is a full-year course which has been designed by Apple engineers to teach you the craft of swiftly building Swift-based apps. Available as a free download on the iBooks store, one can not only learn to code from scratch but also gain critical software development skills, says Apple.
Speaking on the launch of the new curriculum, CEO Tim Cook in a statement said,
We’ve seen firsthand the impact that coding has on individuals and the US economy as a whole. The app economy and software development are among the fastest-growing job sectors in America and we’re thrilled to be providing educators and students with the tools to learn coding.
The app development regimen, as stated in the blog post, will be up for grabs as a course alternative in Alabama Community College System, Columbus State Community College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Houston Community College, Mesa Community College, and San Mateo Community College District, among others. This will also be taught alongside the existing ‘Swift’ curriculum which high-schoolers, which amounts to a whopping 5 lakh students, already have access to.
In addition, the release of this new curriculum is coupled with the announcement that Apple and Houston Community College have joined hands to open an iOS Coding and Design School in the college premises. It will provide interested students a dedicated spot to support their coding practices and hone their Swift skills in the process. Talking about the same, Houston Community College Chancellor Cesar Maldonado said:
We are thrilled Apple is offering this incredible opportunity to advance student learning, which will especially help us bridge the gap in computer science training for minorities and women. We can’t wait to see what these students will do and already have local businesses offering mentoring and internship opportunities.
The growing Swift developer community, which has reached over 1 million users, accounted a significant chunk in Cupertino’s very recent job numbers. Today’s announcement falls in line with the company’s plan to increase its contribution to the U.S economy. It was revealed in this report that Apple has helped create over 2 million jobs in the United States, out of which 1,53 million jobs were created for Swift app developers.
The Cupertino giant has also launched a monstrous $1 billion advanced manufacturing fund to support the growth of its hardware partners in the country. It has already pumped a massive chunk, around $200 million, into its long-standing touchscreen partner Corning. The said company is prominently recognized as the creator of Gorilla Glass, the glass coating atop the screen, which helps protect the screen from damage.
