Swift Playgrounds is an educational tool for the Mac and iPad. It resembles a videogame and is available for free. The app helps kids (and adults) learn to code, even if they are total newbies. It uses the programming language Swift to create challenges for students to solve in engaging ways. Users start with "Fundamentals of Swift" and eventually move on to complex code for advanced concepts.
Paula is a teacher and wants to teach her kids how to program video games. Leo says that SWIFT PLAYGROUNDS for the iPad is a great way to get started. And now users can even publish apps directly from it. MIT has an app called SCRATCH which is designed for middle school - high school age. And Carnegie Mellon has ALICE. It works from the browser.
Christian got a free tablet from Caesar's Palace. Leo says it's possible that there's a gambling game on it that will pay for itself. So it's important to be "look a gift horse the mouth." There is no free lunch, and any device that gets on your network can "play with things." Even if all they are doing is selling your activity. So how legit can it really be? But Caesar's is a legitimate company, so it may just be worth it to send it to him. The more you play, the more money they will make. That's how gambling works.
Brent wants to know how he can image his Linux hard drive. Leo says that Clone Zilla is the best option for Linux. It's available in the Ubuntu Store. There's also DD.\
If you're thinking of a million-dollar idea but need someone to program it, there's a risk or three. The programmer could technically rip off your idea and write the app/code himself/herself. Another issue could be the programmers you hire can totally **** the bed attempting to make your idea come to life, resulting in wasted time and/or money. The brilliant idea is not the key, since ideas are a dime a dozen. The key is implementation and execution. Learning to code will give you an advantage on the road to success, so you have more control in bringing your plan to fruition.
Craig is considering changing careers and is looking for a new skill and is thinking about coding with a CIS course. What should he be looking to do? Leo says right now is a great time to learn because everything is online. Leo recommends starting with EDX.org, which was started by Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. You can take CS50, which is a great entry-level course in computer science. ITPro.tv has very affordable memberships as well and offers certificates for getting a job.
Kai has a Raspberry Pi 4 that he's using to code in Python with. He's created a voice assistant and would like to add facial recognition. But he doens't know where to attach the camera. Leo says it's likely going to be a USB connection or HDMI. Leo suspects that there is a camera library in Python that will help. There's even a library for Face Detectoin called Shunya Face. Look on GitHub. Check out Instructables.com ...
Matthew's stepson wants to become a coder and wants to know how to find out what specs he'll need to create software. Leo says that there's a tool he can use called C# Profiling, which will analyze the app and see what resources it uses, and then highlight how much each process will use.
Micheal wants to know if these coding boot camps can get you a job after learning for only 12 weeks? Leo says that you can get a good start with them, but it's not something you don't want to pay too much money on. Code Academy will teach you the same basic skills. But even then, you have to take what you learn to the next level to make a living at it. Nothing can substitute practice and experience.
Al just moved here from Chicago and he needs to get some training in coding to get an IT job. Leo says that it depends on how much coding they want him to know. Obviously, he won't compete with people who have a computer science degree or who are already established with a solid resume. But he can get started with UDacity. They offer "nano degrees" with an online school of programming, and they are also Google-approved.
