Uwrap App

Part of the @twostraws programmatic universe is his Swift learning app, Unwrap that I’ve included in my learning goals. It presents little snippets of learning with a 60 second video, and in a written version, then tests the user to check their understanding. It is slightly gamified – you get points for answers, but it’s not clear to me how that works beyond the satisfying haptics when your score runs up at the end of a section.

The tests so far (I’m up to Functions) have been code examples along with a “true or false” question for the set – often “This code is valid Swift”, but sometimes things like “This code prints four messages”. At first, I didn’t love the tests as they often didn’t test the thing I’d just learned. For example in the unit about for loops, the hidden error in some code might have been an undeclared variable being used. But the effect of this has been to make me look at each example carefully to look for errors – in the process I’ve learned the Swift syntax well (which I would otherwise have relied on Xcode to help me with), and sharpened my ability to spot errors (that I would otherwise have relied on the compiler to help me with).

The screen shots here are from my SE2 iPhone – so on a sensible sized device the code may be a little easier to read (no it does not to landscape on the phone). I do value having it on the phone though – it’s perfect for making good use of tiny bites of time through the day which would be Swift learning free otherwise.

Even if you’re not following one of Paul’s Hacking with Swift courses, the Unwrap app is a great way to polish your Swift knowledge.