MILAN – Sitting on the steps of Piazza del Liberty, in front of theApple StoreI wonder what’s about to happen.
They invited me to participate Today at Apple, one of the free sessions held daily in Apple Stores around the world. Think about that every week there are over 15,000. On the whole. You can get to know your new iPhone better, you can learn to take better portraits, or, like me, study coding for an hour.
In fact, that’s why I’m here: to take part in the session.”Learn to code with Swift Playgrounds”.
For EU Code Week, which takes place from 7 to 22 October, Apple has intensified two Today at Apple: this one – also designed for children aged 10 or 12 and up – and “Write the code for your first app”.
“Well, if a kid can do it, I can do it too,” I think before entering and meeting Giovanni, the Apple Creative Pro in charge of this session, and my adventure companions for the next 60 minutes.
What is Swift PlayGrounds?
Swift Playgrounds is an app for iPad and Mac that was born for teach anyone to program using Swift code, introduced by Apple almost 10 years ago and now used to program some of the most popular apps in the world.
If you are thinking “but I don’t know anything about programming”, I understand your hesitation but know that no computer knowledge of any kind is required.
Swift Playgrounds was in fact designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of background, age and gender. What is required of you is a pinch of attention and a little logic. Nothing difficult.
Furthermore, it is not made up of pages and pages of text and code but to keep you company there are little monsters who move in a virtual world to let you see in real time what you have plannedor rather, what happens when the machine carries out your instructions.
Learning to code: why participate in Today at Apple?
Swift Playgrounds è gratis.
You can download it immediately, on your iPad or Mac, and follow the lessons to learn how to program.
So why should I attend Today at Apple?
I asked myself that too. After all, I had already downloaded the app after buying the iPad Air 2020. Yet at the time I hadn’t gone beyond the first 3 lessons.
With Today at Apple, however, I did about ten, learned many more things and understood the basic logic a little.
This answers our previous question: the Apple Creative Pros are able to first of all provide you with a basis and explain what the logic of the system iswhat are Swift’s rules, and then you involve in the activity. You are never alone. You always have someone to talk to for the entire duration of the session, a session that you can do alone or in the company of friends, relatives or classmates.
Then keep in mind that once you’ve started, it will be easier to go home and study independently, perhaps with the idea of turning programming into your new profession.
Apple e il coding
The sessions dedicated to Swift are certainly nothing new for Apple which, for some time now, has supported and contributed to the growth of the new generation of developers, creators, entrepreneurs, also providing a series of academic and professional support programs.
Think for example about Apple Developer Academy in Naples, opened in collaboration with the University of Naples Federico II in 2016: today it offers a free nine-month educational program which includes programming, planning and development of various professional skills. Those who attend the courses can also receive lessons on how to start their own business to develop and grow their ideas.
The Academy also offers longer courses, for those who want to graduate, or shorter ones, of four weeks, offered in collaboration with universities and non-profit organizations across Europe.
An example? Simplon, a Paris-based organization that offers free app development and coding training to job seekers from diverse backgrounds, has benefited from Apple’s support since 2019.
Every year Apple invites young people to participate in the Swift Student Challengea challenge open to all those who have created an application in Swift that shows all the magic of coding and highlights how easy it can be to follow your passions even in creating applications.
“At Apple, we believe that education can be a great force for equality and that access to technology can help students reach their full potential. – he has declared Susan Prescott, Vice president of Education and Enterprise product marketing at Apple – We also believe that coding is an essential form of literacy today: learning to code and develop apps helps build self-confidence and develop problem-solving skills; it also helps prepare young people for the future, regardless of the career they choose to pursue. We are committed to providing young people, but also those who teach, with the resources to start and develop a path in the world of coding, in line with the efforts of the European Commission which aims to broaden the possibilities of access to programming languages ”.