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You can hack macOS using macOS, but kids won’t be able to get that level of understanding how OS works on iPadOS. This is bad for IT. Maybe not as dramatic as

by aj3 5y ago

You can hack macOS using macOS, but kids won’t be able to get that level of understanding how OS works on iPadOS. This is bad for IT. Maybe not as dramatic as an existential crisis but it’s certainly a lost opportunity. My friend's daughter is 10 and she could pass job interview for a junior software developer any day simply because her first PC was running Ubuntu (it’s Arch now).

mark_l_watson 5y ago
Full app development and selling apps in the App Store is close to being released on the iPad. You can use SwiftUI right now in Playgrounds, but Apple has not released app generating functionality yet. It is a funny feeling working on the same Playground project on both an iPad and MacBook, but it works. The code for reading data files is a bit different, but the iPad dev experience will get better.
- jbluepolarbear 5y ago
  Playground isn’t close to full app development; it’s very powerful tool, but I don’t see many professionals jumping to build on that. Full app development is when Xcode and instruments are available.
  - mark_l_watson 5y ago
    Well, let's wait and see. Apple wants it to be easy for semi-technical people to write apps.
mhuffman 5y ago
>This is bad for IT. Maybe for how we do IT. But consider the future where 99% of apps are developed on a tablet or phone (for a tablet or phone) using a cloud web interface with mostly low-code or no-code widget drag and drops.
- scoopertrooper 5y ago
  There's a natural limit to what may be achieved with a low/no code tool. Kids might be able to drag a few elements on screen to create charts and games, but that sort of work doesn't really advance the field.
  - mhuffman 5y ago
    >There's a natural limit to what may be achieved with low/no code tool. Kids might be able to drag a few elements on screen to create charts and games, but that sort of work doesn't really advance the field. Ahhh, who said the point in the future would be to advance the field? That is how we think. Future generations might be content with a few "programming geniuses" and everyone else making simplistic apps for work for fun. You could see this future coming. It is already onerous to be a desktop developer on Windows or Mac. It is purposely easier to develop and deploy simplistic mobile apps that can be controlled and monitored by the "stores" that distribute them.
    - laurent92 5y ago
      A bit like today, I feel like a toddler playing with Java coloured cubes, while the “real programmers” are the Linux contributors, people who write drivers and so on. Tomorrow it will be 3 layers: The C programmers, the people from Atlassian or Apple who build the platforms, and us, programming with the subset of the language they give us.
      - losethos7 5y ago
        What a bizarre comment. Application platforms like Salesforce and SAP have been around for decades. There is no “tomorrow” about that. That’s yesterday.
    - dagmx 5y ago
      Every generation has been okay with having multiple tiers of skillsets and domains. That's just natural. Even in the early days of computing, you'd definitely have people split between low level and high level code. The fact is, everytime new technology comes along that reduces the barrier of entry, you're going to have some people who will be lower level developers and many who will be high level due to being able to do things more easily. You can apply this to most consumer friendly domains.
uncletaco 5y ago
"My friend's daughter uses arch btw."

by aj3 5y ago

mark_l_watson 5y ago

Full app development and selling apps in the App Store is close to being released on the iPad. You can use SwiftUI right now in Playgrounds, but Apple has not released app generating functionality yet. It is a funny feeling working on the same Playground project on both an iPad and MacBook, but it works. The code for reading data files is a bit different, but the iPad dev experience will get better.

jbluepolarbear 5y ago
Playground isn’t close to full app development; it’s very powerful tool, but I don’t see many professionals jumping to build on that. Full app development is when Xcode and instruments are available.
- mark_l_watson 5y ago
  Well, let's wait and see. Apple wants it to be easy for semi-technical people to write apps.

mhuffman 5y ago

>This is bad for IT. Maybe for how we do IT. But consider the future where 99% of apps are developed on a tablet or phone (for a tablet or phone) using a cloud web interface with mostly low-code or no-code widget drag and drops.

scoopertrooper 5y ago
There's a natural limit to what may be achieved with a low/no code tool. Kids might be able to drag a few elements on screen to create charts and games, but that sort of work doesn't really advance the field.
- mhuffman 5y ago
  >There's a natural limit to what may be achieved with low/no code tool. Kids might be able to drag a few elements on screen to create charts and games, but that sort of work doesn't really advance the field. Ahhh, who said the point in the future would be to advance the field? That is how we think. Future generations might be content with a few "programming geniuses" and everyone else making simplistic apps for work for fun. You could see this future coming. It is already onerous to be a desktop developer on Windows or Mac. It is purposely easier to develop and deploy simplistic mobile apps that can be controlled and monitored by the "stores" that distribute them.
  - laurent92 5y ago
    A bit like today, I feel like a toddler playing with Java coloured cubes, while the “real programmers” are the Linux contributors, people who write drivers and so on. Tomorrow it will be 3 layers: The C programmers, the people from Atlassian or Apple who build the platforms, and us, programming with the subset of the language they give us.
    - losethos7 5y ago
      What a bizarre comment. Application platforms like Salesforce and SAP have been around for decades. There is no “tomorrow” about that. That’s yesterday.
  - dagmx 5y ago
    Every generation has been okay with having multiple tiers of skillsets and domains. That's just natural. Even in the early days of computing, you'd definitely have people split between low level and high level code. The fact is, everytime new technology comes along that reduces the barrier of entry, you're going to have some people who will be lower level developers and many who will be high level due to being able to do things more easily. You can apply this to most consumer friendly domains.

uncletaco 5y ago

"My friend's daughter uses arch btw."