Categories
Current Events Mobile Programming Tampa Bay

So many Tampa Bay mobile dev job openings, so few applicants

Tampa Bay mobile developer jobs on LinkedIn as of this morning. Tap to view at full size.

While checking LinkedIn this morning, I noticed that there were a lot of iOS and Android developer jobs in the Tampa Bay area, and many of them didn’t have any applicants (or at least any applicants who applied via LinkedIn).

I quickly cobbled the image above from screenshots of LinkedIn’s Jobs sections that I took this morning. If you know UIKit from SwiftUI or can tell your RecyclerViews from your ListViews and either live in Tampa Bay or want to move to our sunny shores, there’s a lot of opportunity right here, right now.

It’s nice work if you can get it

Want to know how much you can make as an Android developer? Here’s what ZipRecruiter has to say:

Screenshot as of July 1, 2021. Tap to view the source.

Here’s ZipRecruiter’s graph for iOS developers:

Screenshot as of July 1, 2021. Tap to view the source.

…and trust me on this one: If you can combine mobile development skills with people skills, you can make a little more.

Learn Android development with GDG SunCoast

We’ve got a GDG (Google Developer Group) right here in Tampa Bay — GDG SunCoast — and they host an Android Study Jam every Wednesday evening. It’s an online event that’s free of charge to attend, and they walk you through Google’s official Android/Kotlin tutorials. It’s a great place to get to know other locals with an interest in Android development, ask questions, and even win prizes!

GDG SunCoast’s next Android Study Jam happens on Wednesday, July 7 at 7:00 p.m..

I’m going to try and catch as many of these as I can. I hope to see you there!

Returning soon: The Programmers of Portables meetup!

A few years back, I started the Tampa iOS Meetup with Angela Don, and over time, it mutated into Programmers of Portables.

The pandemic, my job search, and a lot of work at Auth0 have kept me from holding a meetup in some time, but I’m already working on plans to bring it back. Watch this space, and get ready to learn iOS, Android, and IoT development tricks!

Speaking of Auth0…

Keep an eye on the Auth0 developer blog, where I’m one of the editors. I’m working on a lot of articles about mobile and Python development, and you’ll start seeing them there soon!

Categories
Programming

What to do when the Xcode 13 beta Canvas view doesn’t work and has no Simulators

Still photo from “The IT Crowd” — Rory at his desk on the phone, with the caption “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

I downloaded the Xcode 13 beta and waited through its lengthy installation process…

…and when I launched it once it had been installed, something was wrong. The SwiftUI Canvas preview screen didn’t work, and there were no Simulators available.

And then I remembered that this happened to me with the beta edition of the previous Xcode version. The Canvas makes use of the Simulators, and both work properly when you reboot the Mac after installing Xcode, which appears to reload some necessary files.

Simply put, the way to fix it is to use the classic IT solution: Turn the computer off and on again.

I did just that, and Xcode 13 beta now has a properly-functioning Canvas and a full set of Simulators running iOS 15 beta.

Categories
Programming What I’m Up To

Putting iOS 15 beta on the “sacrificial iPhone 6S”

My iPhone 6S during the iOS 15 installation process.

One of the two phones that I’ve held onto for sentimental reasons is my rose gold iPhone 6S, which I’ve had since late 2016. I got it during my all-too-brief stint in the fashion industry (I’ll save the details for another time), I used it in writing an app at a hackathon that was so funny that they made up a new prize just for it, it survived being driven over (thanks to its Otterbox case), and it was my test platform for my first app in the App Store.

It turns out that iOS 15 supports the 6S, which makes my old “sacrificial phone” a suitable candidate for the new OS and trying out iPhone development with the Xcode beta, Swift 5.5, and the new SwiftUI.

I’ll keep you posted.

Recommended reading

Categories
Programming

Xcode 13 beta is available now!

Tap to view at full size.

The first day of WWDC ’21 has come and gone, which means that the beta for the upcoming version of Xcode is available now!

If you’ve been itching to try out the new Xcode (and especially the new SwiftUI), you can get it at Apple’s Developer site’s Downloads page. It’s currently installing on my machine as I write this.

Let’s do this.

Just a quick warning if this is your first time working with Xcode: the installation process can take a while. On my Auth0-issued 2019 MacBook Pro (2.6 GHz 6-core i7, 16 GB RAM), it took about a half hour or so to unzip itself into a functioning application.

Categories
Humor Programming

The Programmers’ Credo

Plaque of Pinboard’s August 5, 2016 tweet: “The Programmers’ Credo: we do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they were going to be easy.””
Thanks to Santosh Hari for the find!
Tap to view at full size.

I had no idea that one of the best tweets about programming had been turned into a plaque.

Categories
Programming

Learn about common XSS misconceptions with Avocado Labs!

The power of XSS

Developers agree that Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a real threat to browser-based applications, but many underestimate the true power of XSS.

In this talk, we take an in-depth look at the consequences of XSS. With practical examples, we illustrate how different payloads target an application. Mindblowing attack scenarios will focus on identity-specific features, such as stealing tokens from web applications. By the end of this session, you will understand the real threat of an XSS vulnerability in your application, allowing you to implement the right defense strategy.

The talk happens today at 10:00 a.m. EDT (UTC-4) on Auth0’s Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/Auth0

Before you catch this talk, you’ll probably want to watch this video (just under half an hour) titled Do you really understand cross-site scripting?

What is Avocado Labs?

Avocado Labs an Auth0 project whose goal is to keep developers and techies — and people who want to become developers and techies — connected through high-quality online talks.

Categories
Programming Reading Material

Get $411 worth of Python books for $18 with this Humble Bundle!

Once a year, Humble Bundle releases a bundle of No Starch Press’ excellent Python books, and it’s that time of year again! For the next 18 days from the time of this writing, you can get $411 worth of ebooks for as little as $18.

What you get for $1

The bundle is sold in tiers. If you pay only $1, you get this portion of the bundle, which makes for a great starter set for younger readers or if you’re thinking of getting into game development:

If these books alone for a dollar have piqued your interest, you can get them now by going to the Humble Bundle Python book page.

If a dollar is all you can spare, you’ll still be well-served by this deal. However, if you can spend a little more, the deal gets better…

What you get for $10 – $17.99

Pay between $10 and $17.99, and they’ll add these to the bundle:

In my opinion, the stand-out book in this tier is Serious Python, which cover languages features, tools, and techniques that you’ll need as you start writing applications that you or your customers will regularly use and rely upon.

If $17.99 is the most you can spare, you’re still getting a good deal, and you can go to the Humble Bundle Python book page and get your bundle now.

However, if you can part with $18 or more, you should read on…

What you get for $18 or more

And finally, if you pay $18 or more, they’ll throw in the gems of the collection:

If you’re serious about learning Python, you’ll want to pay $18 or more I used Python Crash Course and Automate the Boring Stuff with Python in the Python courses I taught last year.

Even though I bought the 2020 edition of this bundle, I bought the 2021 edition just to get Real World Python is a great way to learn some new tricks through its tour of algorithms and Python libraries. It was cheaper to buy the bundle than to buy Real World Python on its own. Do the math: You can pay $28 for Real World Python, or get all the books in the bundle for $10 less!

Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python is a great guide for writing more Pythonic code, Python One-Liners is worth it for just the NumPy and regex chapters alone, and Natural Language Processing with Python and spaCY packs an NLP course with lots of practical exercises into under 200 pages.

If the $18 bundle is what you’re looking for, go to Humble Bundle and get it while it’s still available!

The money goes to good causes

The proceeds from sales of this bundle go to:

The mission of the Python Software Foundation is to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers. The majority of the PSF’s work is focused on empowering and supporting people within the Python community. The PSF has active grant programs that support sprints, conferences, meetups, user groups, and Python development efforts all over the world. In addition, the PSF underwrites and runs PyCon US, the primary Python community conference. Being part of the PSF means being part of the Python community. Recently we changed the PSF to an open membership organization, so that everyone who uses and supports Python can join.

To learn more, visit https://www.python.org/psf/membership.

The No Starch Press Foundation is an IRS 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation created to support and grow the collective knowledge and contributions of the worldwide hacker community.

We support hackers of all types, regardless of experience — whether that’s the passionate beginner or the lifelong hacker wishing to make a broader contribution to the hacker community and the world.

The Foundation was formed to give back to and strengthen the hacking community. The Foundation’s founder, William Pollock, has been closely involved with the hacking community since about 1999 and much of the success of his company, No Starch Press, is due to the support of the worldwide hacking community. To date, Pollock has given over $800,000 to the Foundation and is working to expand its donor base. The Foundation’s funding will be used to help strengthen and expand the hacking community, by educating the public about hacking and working to create safe and central places for the hacking community.