The night was…
Throw Momma from the Train, a middling movie from the 80s starring Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito, opens to a shot of a typewriter with that half-finished sentence. “The night was…humid.” In the film, Billy Crystal’s character has writer’s block. He can’t get passed the first sentence in his new novel. His wife had stolen his last manuscript, left him, published it under her own name; it was a bestseller for her. She has a guest appearance on Oprah, who, timeless and immortal, was relevant even back then.
You’ll come to realize I have watched a lot of movies and TV. Everything that happens usually reminds me of some small scene I’ve seen somewhere. We will be friends if you recall the scene when I mention it.
The bit above, from Throw Momma, has been stuck in my head for weeks. I had to re-watch the movie. That gag recurs throughout the movie. “The night was cloudy”, “The night was humid”, “The night was…was…was”, “The night was…moist.” The payoff is satisfying, but I won’t spoil it for you.
Instead of a writer, I’m an app developer. My wife recently stole my source code and published it under her name. Now she’s appearing on Oprah. Just like in the movie. See why it’s stuck in my head??
Ha. No, no. That’s not it all. As if anyone’s app would merit a guest spot on Oprah. Ha.
No, I was recalling that gag in the movie because I could relate to it. I have been paralyzed by fear lately. I want to write about app development but I’m stuck on where to start. I’m stuck wondering whether I’m actually a good enough developer (or writer) to talk about app development. This is called Imposter Syndrome. I’m not alone in feeling this, especially as a developer. It seems to hit us often, to our detriment.
And I’m fed up feeling this way and not doing anything about it. This post is my own personal Danny DeVito, forcing me into a situation with which I’m slightly uncomfortable. I’m a good developer; I know this. I can write an app from scratch, so I’m going to. And I’m going to write about the whole process out in the open.
I have a lot to say about app development. I’ve seen enough and done enough to know that the way we develop apps needs to change. There are three premises that I will write about, using the app I’m making as a reference: there is a fundamental misconception about apps that holds everyone back; there are too many non-technical, “business” people in charge of decisions they’re not qualified to make when it comes to apps; and, finally, an app developer (I’m being precise here, I don’t mean any old developer), as opposed to anyone with UX in their title will serve you far better along the way when you’re making an app.
So, stick around. You’ll learn something or at least think really hard. And know more about movies.
Here’s how this experiment will work:
- I’m going to write a commercially viable iOS app in Swift, ready in time to ship when iOS 10 ships in the fall (I’m shooting for end of September);
- I will design all the screens, write all the code (minus libraries). I might even give the icon a shot;
- I will post every week day to this blog, either about the app I’m writing or app development, most of which will be non-technical;
- I have a day job, so my time is limited to a couple hours per day.
I plan to benefit from this with the following: a habit of writing every day, knowing Swift (WWDC 2016 shows me that the time has come to learn it for real), and another app written on my own.
I’m excited and a little worried. I might fall on my face here, in public, with a written record.
But, looking ahead, I only see sultry nights.