Things have changed, but not all...

Some 25 (!) years ago I wrote my last line of code, it was for a network administration system called BRITT for KPN, written entirely in fortran'77. In those Volmac days my coding was done in C, Fortran and some assembler. The VI editor was my IDE. Programs started with a statement like "main()" or "begin". 

About when C++ was getting more stage I drifted away from coding and moved to design and consultancy.

Now, 2019, I had a (again briljant) idea for a mobile phone app. So I gave it a try to do some coding again....

Things are not that simple anymore. Here's a list of the things I had to learn and go through to get the app up-and-running on my phone:

• Should I use low-code systems like Mendix, Outsystems or Betty? Although all these products are briljant, it didn't get me to understand "how it's made". So I chose to go for the manual approach.
• Defining some architecture and design, back-end, app, notifications
• Signup to AWS to get some server-space for the back-end
• Figure out what type of back-end I would need
• Choose a cheap and good LAMP setup -> bitnami
• Learn how to configure Apache
• Learn how to setup phpMyadmin on my laptop (Still no idea what the commands mean, but it works....)
• Build a mysql database, tables and columns
• Learn the PHP language to build the back-end API
• In the mean time, sign-up for an Apple Developer account
• Get all the required certificates and ID's from Apple
• Build the back-end API, for accessing the database in PHP
• Learn the Swift programming language
• Learn about classes and objects
• Learn about delegates and protocols
• Learn about push notifications
• Learn how to work with Xcode
• Build, Test, Debug the app, API and backend (thanks to Code with Chris on youtube)
• Find an available app-name for the app-store
• Build the app to be able to receive push notifications and capture the data in the app
• Setup push notification sender (Thanks Khoa Pham)
• Add app-icons in all sizes and flavours
• Submit the app for publication in the app-store to enable testflight testing
• Add compliancy information for apple approval

Pfff.......but finally I got it up and running.

A lot has changed in 25 years. However, not all......when working on the linux server, the VI editor commands is used to use were stored somewhere in my memory. Without thinking all the commands just flowed out of my hands a reflexes. Editing, searching, inserting, quitting and saving. I just had to close my eyes and let my hands do the work.

Remarkable...