CCI Diploma 2021/2022: Unit 4: Lecture 10

I'm going to start every lecture with a meditation from the fantastic Sitting Still Like a Frog book, all read by Myla Kabat-Zinn. If you don't want to participate that's completely fine, I'll message on the chat when the meditation is over.

Before we get into the lecture, I just wanted to go through the schedule of assessment up to the end of the year. Because of the Platinum Jubilee we've decided to have the multiple choice a little earlier to leave more time for preparation for the practical exam. The multiple choice will be live from Tuesday 24th May 2022 at 0900 to Tuesday 31st May at 0900. The practical exam will be live from Monday 6th June 2022 at 0900 to Monday 13th June at 0900. I'm still going to teach more app development on Tuesday 24th May and Tuesday 31st May.

I've had feedback from Murad and Matthew on the difficulties some of you are facing with the unit, and I wanted to take some time to ease any worries you might have about completing it. The next three lectures are going to be all about making Apps together, now that we've got through the hard slog of Swift learning! I know that by the end of these three lectures you'll feel more confidence about the unit in general, but let's talk about specifics:

The App exam is going to be based around making a new version of one of the apps that we are going to make together over the next three lectures, as was the case last year. Beyond completing the new app, I'll give you some tips about how to get the best grade possible:

Use lots of comments! For both saying what you are doing but also showing reference to where you got that information from. The Swift Documentation would be the perfect place to reference, especially The Swift Programming Language Book.
Add more features than are requested in the exam brief - especially new user interface elements that allow users to control the app interactively. We'll be covering all of the elements that are available to you in the next three lectures.
Finally, make it personal! Add your own graphics, text or other elements to make an app that only you could make. You've got this. I know it's been hard, but with this final push we can get there all together.

In terms of access to Mac hardware if you have a PC, I'd say that the best thing is to come into CCI itself and to speak directly to the technical team if you are having problems with getting Mac hardware or trying any of the exercises. These facilities are only available at CCI itself, so going to your home colleges wouldn't be the thing I'd recommend. As always, message me directly on Slack, I'm available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, but have my Slack open on most days.