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Tutorials

Begin your experience by attending half- or full-day tutorials. Please note that you must register for the tutorial(s) you want to attend as space is limited and many sell out quickly.

Tutorials
MA Introducing the Swift Programming Language
Daniel Steinberg, Dim Sum Thinking, Inc.
Monday, April 13, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

If you are an experienced developer who is interested in the new Swift programming language, this hands-on workshop is for you. Daniel Steinberg introduces standalone Swift functions that are not part of a class or other Swift type. Then, he shows how to give or hide external names for parameters. Daniel shares examples of four fundamental Swift entities: String, Int, Dictionary, and Arrays. You’ll practice creating mutable and immutable arrays and explore different ways of iterating through them, changing values along the way. Learn to save the application’s state, and much more. Daniel dives into Swift types—classes, objects, protocols, structs, modules, and enumerations―including how they differ, initialization, and how to add properties and methods to them. In conclusion Daniel discusses optionals, generics, and closures, and shows you how to use the Swift REPL and Playgrounds to explore all aspects of this new language.

Laptop Required: To participate fully in this session, you should bring a Mac laptop with the most recent version of Xcode 6 already installed.

More Information
Learn more about Daniel Steinberg.
MB Android Development Introduction: A Hands-On Workshop
Ken Kousen, Kousen IT, Inc.
Monday, April 13, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

Learn Android development from the ground up. We'll start with the SDK and the Android Studio IDE, and build, test, and deploy applications on both emulators and physical devices. The basics of Android development will be discussed and implemented, from activities to resources to asynchronous communications.

Examples will be provides to show how to use the new Gradle build system for Android. We'll also use the embedded SQLite database to store data, and access a RESTful web service and parse the resulting JSON data to update the user interface.


Programming Skills Required: Participants should have strong programming skills.

Laptop Required: To participate fully in this workshop, you should bring a laptop with Java and the Android Studio IDE already installed. Download the Java JDK at www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads. Download Android Studio and update the Android SDK with the most recent components at developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html.

More Information
Learn more about Ken Kousen.
MC Building Universal Apps for the Windows Platform
Mike Benkovich, Imagine Technologies, Inc.
Monday, April 13, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm


Microsoft calls it Windows reimagined, providing developers with powerful frameworks and technologies for building apps—if you know the tools and how to use them. In this hands-on session, Mike Benkovich demonstrates what you need to know to launch or improve your development efforts to build universal—mobile, tablet, or desktop—apps for Windows. Starting with the basics of the framework options of C# and JavaScript through how you can use the universal nature of the UX to target everything from phones to widescreens, Mike works you through all the layers of building an app. You’ll use the latest frameworks and technologies for working with the UX, data, and service. Practice using the Universal app framework to target both tablet and phone devices, and connect your app to data in the cloud. From liquid smooth graphics and layouts to the cloud and contracts, we put the tools to work and give you the background you need to build great Windows apps.

Laptop Required: To participate in this session, you should bring a Windows laptop with any version of Visual Studio 2013 or later installed.

More Information
Learn more about Mike Benkovich.

Let’s build a mobile app quality and testing strategy together. Whether you have a web, hybrid, or native app, building a test and quality strategy means first understanding your customers and your competitors, and then testing your app under real-world conditions. Most importantly, it means having the data and tools to make quick, agile decisions on feature implementations and bug fixes. Jason Arbon guides you through the latest techniques, data, and tools to ensure you have an awesome mobile app test and quality strategy. Leave this interactive session with a strategy for your very own app (or one you pretend to own). The information Jason shares is based on Applause.com/uTest's thousands of mobile app test cycles on hundreds of top mobile apps, data analytics on millions of apps, hundreds of millions of appstore reviews, development of mobile apps, and consultations with top app development teams. 

Note: Bringing a laptop or tablet to this tutorial is preferred but is not required.

More Information
Learn more about Jason Arbon.
TA iOS 8 Quick Start: The Fundamental Pillars of iOS Development
Daniel Steinberg, Dim Sum Thinking, Inc.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

If you are an experienced developer who is new to iOS development, join Daniel Steinberg as he facilitates this hands-on workshop to teach participants how to write great iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch apps. Daniel introduces Xcode 6 and Apple's suite of freely-available developer tools. He demonstrates how to use Xcode’s visual tools and storyboards to create your app’s GUI. Learn to use Outlets and Actions to connect the visual elements to code and interact with them. Examine the Swift code that implements your application’s Model and Controller layers. Add logic through multiple source files that illustrate how to partition code into useful objects and functions. Take a close look at view controllers and how they manage the view with which users are interacting. Conclude with a look at multiple scenes, and learn how to create and configure segues that allow user transition across different scenes. By the end of the day, you’ll be ready to begin work on your own iOS apps.

Laptop Required: To participate fully in this session, you should bring a Mac laptop with the most recent version of Xcode 6 already installed.

More Information
Learn more about Daniel Steinberg.
TB Testing Mobile Web Apps in the Cloud with Selenium
Max Saperstone, Coveros
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

With the burgeoning number of mobile OSs, browsers, and platform combinations, comprehensive mobile app testing can be a nightmare—but it doesn’t have to be! Max Saperstone demonstrates ways to leverage the open source Selenium (IDE) with cloud services to test mobile apps across multiple browsers and platforms. Through hands-on exercises, you will experience how Selenium interacts with web browsers below the GUI to test actions, inputs, and expected outcomes. Max and participants will examine how the Selenium framework works and learn how to expand Selenium tests to improve device and platform coverage. Employing a cloud-based mobile testing tool from Sauce Labs as an example service, you will learn to execute tests recorded in Selenium on a cloud based emulation system across multiple devices, browsers, and platform configurations. Finally, Max discusses common errors and bug analysis techniques, focusing on testing responsive web applications. Take back a set of proven practices for developing mobile application tests with extensive coverage while minimizing test script maintenance.

Laptop Required: With their laptops, participants will connect remotely via Google Chrome VNC to a specialized virtual environment for the hands-on portion of this session.

More Information
Learn more about Max Saperstone.
TC Mobile App Project Kick Off: Get It Right the First Time
Jaimee Newberry, Independent Consultant
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 12:00pm

The critical steps that need to happen before coding starts are all-too-often brushed over or skipped entirely. Join Jaimee Newberry as she discusses how to identify and gain buy-in and involvement from all the right stakeholders. Because user experience (UX) will make or break every new app, you have to get it right the first time. Jaimee explores brand/product voice and personality questions that help teams quickly map out the direction that affects everything—product experience, visual design, and timing of animations and transitions. Learn how to write copy and where to position it—from alerts to error messages and beyond. Jaimee demonstrates ways to identify your target users; empathize with their wants and needs; create user personas; and map out the most important UX scenarios. Jaimee addresses feature prioritization and discusses the secrets of great team communication. Walk away prepared to kick off a new product or evaluate your current project’s trajectory to ensure development is on the right track.

More Information
Learn more about Jaimee Newberry.
TD Security Testing Mobile Applications
Alan Crouch, Coveros
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 12:00pm

The sensitive nature of personal information stored on smart devices makes security testing vital when building mobile applications. Alan Crouch explores the unique characteristics of mobile devices—how they store data, the fluid trust boundaries between applications, and the unique aspects of device security models. Learn about the many different threat types and use cases in the mobile arena that make security testing mobile applications so challenging. Alan offers hints and tips for comprehensive security testing of mobile applications during the development process. He shares when and where in that process to perform each type of testing. Tips include how to test for data privacy, secure session management, and the presence of malicious applications. Take back approaches for finding traditional application security vulnerabilities that also may be present in mobile applications. Leave with an understanding of what it takes to security test your mobile applications and practical knowledge to make your mobile apps less vulnerable.

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Learn more about Alan Crouch.
TE The Ionic Framework: Build Apps with AngularJS and PhoneGap
Troy Miles, Kelley Blue Book
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 12:00pm

Ionic is an open source, front-end framework for building hybrid mobile apps with HTML5. Using the Ionic framework, you can combine PhoneGap and AngularJS—the hottest web MVC framework around for building fast, testable web applications—to create cross-platform apps using standard web development tools like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Troy Miles introduces you to the Ionic framework and discusses how to use it with AngularJS. Participants will build a simple, full-featured application that offers a great overview of Ionic's key features. You will run the app on the Genymotion Android emulator, so you won't need a smartphone for testing. Learn how to debug the app in two different ways. The first: Run it as a web app and use the tools of the Chrome browser. The second: Run the app on the emulated device and use Chrome's remote debugging capabilities. Leave with the knowledge and tools you need to develop enterprise-ready cross-platform mobile apps with Ionic.

Laptop Required: To participate fully in this session, you should bring a laptop with a web-capable IDE, Google Chrome, and Oracle’s VirtualBox installed. Download VirtualBox at: www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads.

More Information
Learn more about Troy Miles.
TI Develop Your Mobile App Test and Quality Strategy
Jason Arbon, appdiff.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 8:30am - 4:30pm

Let’s build a mobile app quality and testing strategy together. Whether you have a web, hybrid, or native app, building a test and quality strategy means first understanding your customers and your competitors, and then testing your app under real-world conditions. Most importantly, it means having the data and tools to make quick, agile decisions on feature implementations and bug fixes. Jason Arbon guides you through the latest techniques, data, and tools to ensure you have an awesome mobile app test and quality strategy. Leave this interactive session with a strategy for your very own app (or one you pretend to own). The information Jason shares is based on Applause.com/uTest's thousands of mobile app test cycles on hundreds of top mobile apps, data analytics on millions of apps, hundreds of millions of appstore reviews, development of mobile apps, and consultations with top app development teams. 

Note: Bringing a laptop or tablet to this tutorial is preferred but is not required.

More Information
Learn more about Jason Arbon.
TF Super Rad Brainstorming
Jaimee Newberry, Independent Consultant
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 1:00pm - 4:30pm

Ever had a brainstorming session that failed to produce the quality results you’d hoped for? Think you already have good brainstorming sessions but know there’s room for improvement? Facilitating Super Rad Brainstorming sessions for eons now, Jaimee Newberry is an industry leader in improving brainstorming skills and surfacing incredible ideas. Work together as Jaimee facilitates a real time, hands-on brainstorming session that highlights tips and tricks for making your own brainstorming sessions more productive. Participants will collectively decide which challenge to tackle and brainstorm together. Learn what supplies to bring, how to prepare for a session, and how to handle common sticking points that prevent many brainstorming sessions from being productive. Take away tips and practices you can use immediately back at the office.​ With time for sharing your own tips, tricks, and methods, this is an excellent platform for learning, collaborating—and having a lot of fun.

More Information
Learn more about Jaimee Newberry.
TG Designing Apps for Android Devices
Luke Wallace, Bottle Rocket
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 1:00pm - 4:30pm

With the many versions of Android available today on hundreds, even thousands, of device types, just how do you build something that will look good on Android devices you’ve never seen? Is it possible to build an app that will look good on the newest devices and not look strange on your grandma’s phone from 2012? Luke Wallace clears a path through the jungle of Android-based hardware and takes on the fragmentation beast. See how his company, Bottle Rocket, one of the top mobile development companies, handles this challenge day-in-and day-out—without compromising the experience. Luke shares the design principles that guide the Android team within Google itself. Learn their latest recommendations for getting apps featured in Google Play. It’s not easy, but with a few guiding principles, you’ll be well on your way to a happy Android development team—and even happier customers.

More Information
Learn more about Luke Wallace.
TH Building Cross-Platform Mobile Apps
Troy Miles, Kelley Blue Book
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 1:00pm - 4:30pm

PhoneGap (aka Cordova) is a cross-platform framework for developing mobile apps using standard web development tools like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Join Troy Miles to learn how to create mobile apps with PhoneGap by building a simple but full-featured app during this hands-on class. Troy explores PhoneGap’s important capabilities, including GPS, camera, and audio recordings. Because JavaScript has a reputation as a somewhat difficult language, Troy teaches techniques for keeping your code robust and clean. To give your app the appropriate look and feel for the device on which it is running, the class will use the open source Chocolate Chip UI framework for testing. Troy shares ways to debug the code by running it as a web app, using browser development tools, or as a phone app, using the Chrome browser’s remote debugging features. Leave with the basics you need to start building your own cross-platform mobile apps.

Laptop Required: To participate fully in this session, you should bring a laptop with a web-capable IDE, Google Chrome, Git, Node (includes npm), PhoneGap (npm module), and Oracle’s VirtualBox installed. Download Git, Node, and PhoneGap at http://therockncoder.blogspot.com/2015/04/getting-going-with-phonegap.html. Download VirtualBox at: www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads.

More Information
Learn more about Troy Miles.