For years since earning a bachelor’s degree in architecture, Salah has been seeking career opportunities that would enhance his desire to bring his creativity to life.
Unfortunately, with no luck finding fulfillment in architecture, Salah decided to change careers and become an interior designer. This career change wouldn’t last long, as only a year and a half later, his boss immigrated to Canada, and he was back to square one.
I always had a passion for learning new software and tools. I taught myself various software applications, both for personal and work-related purposes.
With this setback, Salah decided to work and grow his family business while looking for opportunities that would fulfill his passion for creativity. During this time, he sought new tools to enhance their business operations and created complex Excel sheets with functions to streamline processes, which unknowingly paved the way for app development.
Feeling unfulfilled and not fully utilizing his skills
One day after returning from work, the feeling of unfulfillment took over Salah. He didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t fully utilizing his passion and skills. Coincidentally, it was the same day as the WWDC22 main event, something that Salah has been eagerly watching every year.
After watching the event, he realized a couple of things: he genuinely enjoys learning new software and apps, and seeing his designs come to life has always given him a great deal of satisfaction.
These realizations gave Salah some thoughts to ponder: Why not take up the challenge and learn how to build apps and fuse his design expertise with app development?
Finding a learning resource that resonated with him
Just like many beginners, Salah spent days finding iOS development tutorials until he stumbled upon the CodeWithChris YouTube channel. What caught his attention fast was Chris’ teaching style, which he said resonated with him.
“He took the time to explain even the most basic steps, such as how to download Xcode, when others might have assumed this knowledge or provided a simple, vague instruction,” Salah said. “This attention to detail and thoughtful approach to teaching resonated with me, making me feel supported and encouraged as a beginner in the field.”
According to Salah, Chris had a calm and patient demeanor, making it easy for beginners like him to understand complex concepts.
To his delight, he discovered that there was a WWDC sale happening on the CodeWithChris website. Salah started the 14-day challenge and from that point on, he was hooked. Upon completion of the 14-day challenge, Salah was able to build his first app. This accomplishment was an encouraging boost to his confidence which made him eager to dive deeper into iOS development.
“Successfully publishing my own app on the App Store has ignited a profound sense of excitement and accomplishment within me.”
Following building his first app, Salah started the 90-day iOS Foundations Course, fully immersing himself in the learning process as he dedicated his spare time to learning the lessons and practicing coding.
He made use of the challenges at the end of every lesson and applied his learnings to work on his app project. Eventually, he developed an app called We Play FPL. It’s an app that is centered around the popular Fantasy Premier League that serves as a platform for FPL managers and enables users to connect with fellow managers, make friends, plan upcoming transfers, and monitor their team’s performance effortlessly.
Finding fulfillment through app development
Successfully publishing his app on the App Store ignited a profound sense of excitement and accomplishment within Salah. It was something that he’d been longing for so long, and now that he experienced it, his career aspirations have evolved significantly.
“Looking ahead, my career aspirations have taken a different trajectory compared to 13 to 14 months ago when I started this journey. Now, my ultimate goal is to establish my own development company. I envision a company that not only creates its own innovative apps but also collaborates with others to bring their app ideas to life.”
“Ultimately, my journey with CodeWithChris has instilled a deep passion for app development and entrepreneurship within me. I’m excited to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The sense of accomplishment I derived from this journey has given me the confidence and determination to pursue these goals and turn my passion for app development into a thriving career.”
“Everyone starts somewhere and it’s okay to be a beginner.”
Salah’s advice to people who want to learn iOS development:
“Facing challenges is a natural part of the learning process. Try to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable tasks. By approaching challenges with a step-by-step mindset, you’ll find that they become less daunting.”
For Salah, it’s important to cement a good foundation by finding a learning course with a teaching style and pace that works for you. Also, make sure to avoid passively consuming content. Embrace hands-on learning and experiment with code to gain a deeper understanding of app development.
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