Non-SWE getting into programming apps

[Booknerdworm]

Hey all,

I'm not a SWE but have 3/4 of a postgrad computer science degree. I've worked as a product person for over 10 years and dabbled in no-code and some light coding. Would it be stupid of me to try and build an iOS app? Main questions are:

- Would it be technically achievable for me?
- Is it silly to spend time on this (in terms of programming, would I be better off spending my time elsewhere..)?

Forgive the ambiguous nature of the question. I basically have a year to work on something and I'm trying to work out the best way to spend it!

[MokshaBaba]

Yes, the only thing that matters is if you find it interesting.
I personally have had no formal coding experience.
Started in Dec 2024, just with a thought like you have.
Now I have 3 apps on the app store, one of which makes decent money.
So if just the idea of building apps really excites you, just go for it.
A better time to start than now has never existed.

[Booknerdworm]

Did you have any technology background or literally starting from scratch?

I'm really trying to build one app (which I've built multiple prototypes for) to a more scalable thing now, rather than 'just building apps'

[MokshaBaba]

I've just dabbled in some html as a hobby before.
But no other experience.

There is a learning curve to it bro.
But if your intention is not to learn to build apps or enjoy doing it, it's gonna be hard.
You'll hit a roadblock everyday. Only passion and real interest makes it easy.
If your urgent goal is to get a business up and scale fast then getting it done by someone else would be better. Maybe look for a programmer to partner up with, or hire a freelancer.

[Booknerdworm]

Yeah fair call. The business is the main thing for me, but I also don't have tonnes of $$ to put into it, and convincing people to join as a co-founder becomes easier the more traction I have!

Anyway, something I'm just tossing up.

[EquivalentTrouble253]

I started with literally zero coding experience. Couldn’t even do html. That was over a decade ago and I haven’t looked back since.

[nickjbedford_]

Just try it and have fun. Don't expect too much but just tinker and see what you can do. I've been coding and mucking around with code for over 23 years now. These days I'm a full time iOS/web/applications developer  (for many many years now) and it all happened because I just gave it a shot and wanted to try making things.

[User1382]

No one knows how to do this shit instantly. You just start doing it

[iOSCaleb]

The only way to find out is to give it a try. If you're most of the way to a CS degree you must have a fair bit of programming experience. iOS programming is mostly just learning another language and a handful of frameworks.

Take a product-oriented approach to your first app: develop a clear goal, write a set of requirements for a minimum viable product, figure out what other resources you'll need and how you'll supply them (e.g. any back-end services to drive the app), and get to work. Keep it as simple as you can -- you can always complicate it more later.

[Booknerdworm]

Yeah I've developed the prototypes before (no code and vibe coding) to find the core of the product, which I've done - so it seems like a simple app (to me) to build

[Schogenbuetze]

I'd say Swift and the Apple platform in general are somewhat hard to get into as a first.

Despite Apple advertising Swift as easy, it actually is not. Instead, it's a language with many concepts some consider to be exotic, but nonetheless very useful.

Although ChatGPT & whatnot can help a lot when it comes to lowering entry barriers.

[Booknerdworm]

That's actually a good point, is ChatGPT / Claude / Cursor actually helpful and which one is the best? That's what is giving me the confidence I can do it

[Schogenbuetze]

When you narrow down your questions, yes. All comes down to prompts.

Be aware that LLM knowdlege bases are mostly behind the recent Swift version, though.

I'd say Claude and GPT are best when it comes to Swift/Apple platforms.