How I learned SwiftUI - Design+Code Course Review

I finally made the leap and decided to start learning SwiftUI. The very first step I took was to take MengTo of Design+Code's course. I was drawn to this course because the app was beautifully designed and looked like a ton of fun to make. With this course, you are getting sort of a 2 for 1 deal. Not only will you learn SwiftUI, but you'll get some great design tips as well since Meng is an amazing designer.

This video was sponsored, but it was with the assumption that it would be an unbiased review. As you can probably hear in my voice in the video, I genuinely enjoyed this course and am excited to share my thoughts with you all.

Link to Design+Code SwiftUI Course:

Meng To's Twitter:

This tutorial was built using Xcode 11 and SwiftUI

Personal Links:

If you'd like access to my entire library of source code (always updated for the latest versions of Swift and Xcode), I make that available for a specific level of Patreon membership here:

Link to my book - How I Became an iOS Developer:

Books, Hoodies & Goodies:

Check out my podcast, iOS Dev Discussions:

Paul Hudson of Hacking with Swift and I have a podcast called Swift Over Coffee:

I stream iOS and gaming content on Twitch:

Book and learning recommendations that help out the channel if you decide to purchase (Affiliate Links):

Ray Wenderlich Books:

Ray Wenderlich Videos:

Paul Hudson's Hacking With Swift:

Learn Advanced Swift Here:

Links to my iOS Dev Setup & iOS Dev Book Recommendations

Personal Links:

Twitter:

Instagram:
@seanallen_dev

Patreon:

[kerollesroshdi]

😱 Yesterday I was thinking of getting this course, Now you gave me a push, I’m getting this course as soon as I finish my current project 🤲🏻

[RickPlaysStick]

I was on the fence about buying another course. Your review showed the added value in learning design while learning SwiftUI. Sold!

[AivarsMeijers]

Sold!
I bought a very first Design+Code course and that was good.
I knew that the design part will be greate here, but skipped this course because I wasn't sure about value for developers. After this intro, I just should get my hands on this one

[gurikn]

My 2 cents on this course (Finished it completely):
- If you're interesting in learning about design, then don't think twice and just go ahead and purchase this course.
- If you purchase this course expecting Meng to cover the very basics of SwiftUI and how everything works in great detail, then this course is not for you. Consider taking Sean's course instead for the SwiftUI basics.
- The format of Meng's course is more of a code-along than anything else, however he does cover quite a lot of stuff, and since it's not exactly cheap, I figured it deserved a little critique.

Just MHO.

[khaldounal-nuaimi]

I was literally looking at this course and now that you reviewed it! I am going to take it soon!

[jasurrajabov]

This course motivates me to start learning SwiftUI. Big thanks Sean.

[marcelomoyano]

I hear you man. I'm going to buy the course. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[kelcodes]

I’m definitely going to check this out. Thank you Sean!

[cineverseproductions]

Looks promising. I will definitely explore SwiftUI. Meng has done great work here. Thanks, Sean.

[trevorroberts]

I subscribed up based on Sean's comments. I am really enjoying this course. Thanks Sean.

[randomcontrol]

One more here, who was thinking about buying this course a while ago and who now got convinced ;-)

[irayankhan]

Definitely getting this today. Thank you so much!

[hamseng]

So much good info and tutorials out there I was starting to get lost on where to begin with SwiftUI. After this review, I think I'll give this course a go. Thanks mate.

[chrispyk]

Thanks for the recommendation Sean. Looking forward to taking the course when Catalina is officially released.

[brainstormcentral]

I checked this course after I went through the Apple SwiftUI tutorials and I was very disappointed. It is good if you want to have a nice shiny project.
But no in-depth discussion. Some of the data flow introduction was just wrong. Better start with the Ray Wenderlich tutorial books.

[jkristia]

looks like a must have. thank you for recommending it.

[kyzmitch]

Wow, my comment in the video, I stopped watching your videos, but now going to come watch again

[prod.kashkari]

Starting my process now.. praying this journey in three months will pay off. I’ve never wanted to learn something so bad

[brandonc]

I followed Sean's recommendation, subscribed to Design+Code and feel compelled to share my impressions. The tutorials are clearly narrated but haphazardly thought out, jumping from subject to subject as Meng codes a particular feature. This haphazard assortment of topics covered is then listed with bold headings in a narrow column under an oversized image that fades into the video player. The design of the site itself is surprisingly difficult to navigate. Finding anything on the site involves scrolling through oversized or overly narrow elements. I could not track down post-beta corrections, nor find a single comments section. 

For example, what on earth is a "PresentationButton" in the NavigationView tutorial? None of the post-beta name changes are included in Apple's own documentation, making it all the more important that these tutorials at least have a comment section where the users themselves can ponder the many inconsistencies. 

I just can’t get over the absolutely chaotic over-sized visual mess that is the website itself. It's so needlessly difficult to navigate. The haphazard structure of the courses themselves always makes me question if the unlabeled arrow buttons on the side of the video are really taking me to a logical extension of the current tutorial. And I’m trying to limit my criticism to the intentional design decisions involved here, there are so many bugs that will eventually be fixed but which plagued me constantly (the account button does nothing but place a visual blur overlay on the screen that can only be removed with the escape button… is this actually intentional?, the terrible login issues, unresponsive controls on the video player, etc.). I’m not talking about these bugs.

Fundamentally I have to ask, how can anyone have faith in design instruction from a group of people who decide rollover blur on a grid of app logos is an effective way to highlight content, or that a horizontally scrolling carousel of rounded-edged thumbnails is the best way to find new tutorials? And don’t take my word for it. They do offer a monthly subscription. Subscribe for a month and see for yourselves. It’s all just so very messy!

[petersuvara]

Hmmm. Surprised you didn't mention Paul Hudsons work. I already have his books, along with a Raywenderlich subscription. Never heard of this, but looks interesting. I would go for the Swift course just by itself with a one off payment. Not really interested in another subscription, especially with other courses I am not really interested in.