Not only did Apple announce next year’s Swift Student Challenge early to give coders more time to prepare — it put the word out Wednesday for the February 2024 competition — it also added a new “Distinguished Winners” category and a raft of new coding resources in “Everyone Can Code Projects.”
Apple tweaks Swift Student Challenge app-coding competition
Apple has run the Swift Student Challenge for several years, inviting students to compete by building the best apps they can in Swift Playgrounds, which is also used by professional developers.
The competition is tied to next summer’s Worldwide Developers Conference, with some students invited to attend the event in person. With the February 2024 competition, 50 Distinguished Winners out of 350 overall winners will be recognized and invited to Apple Park during WWDC to meet each other and Apple staff, the company said. The winners also get a one-year membership in the Apple Developer Program.
Kids care about coding
Photo: Apple
“At Apple, we believe that everyone can learn to code and build apps, and we’re proud to support and recognize aspiring student developers with the Swift Student Challenge each year,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s VP of worldwide developer relations and education/enterprise marketing.
She continued:
We know that students are eager to learn coding skills to solve challenges they care about — whether it’s building an app to help peers identify mental health resources or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and want to know how to get started. Apple is releasing new coding resources for students and educators, working with our community partners on dedicated Swift programming, and sharing advance notice of the Swift Student Challenge timeline for 2024. We can’t wait to see the app playgrounds students submit next year.
Apple also referenced an independent YPulse survey indicating kids’ overwhelming interest in coding and recognition of its potential importance in their future careers.
New ‘Everyone Can Code Projects’
Photo: Apple
Apple’s new Everyone Can Code Projects resource gives educators in the Apple Education Community step-by-step guidance to help students in app development. As Apple said:
Everyone Can Code Projects can be integrated into any subject area, and are perfect for the classroom or coding clubs. They introduce students to SwiftUI — the modern way to build user interfaces with surprisingly little code — and use the latest app-building technologies in Swift Playgrounds. As they code, students can see how their app changes in real time with App Preview.
4 new projects already available
Photo: Apple
And four new Projects are now available, the company added:
- Design a Simple App: Students can create an app prototype in Keynote to learn the fundamentals of app design, practice rapid prototyping and collect feedback, following the same steps as professional developers.
- Build with Stacks and Shapes: Students can take the first steps of building an app in Swift Playgrounds and code a self-portrait or a work of art using SwiftUI to learn the fundamentals of user-interface design.
- Build Custom Shapes: Students can bring an app interface to the next level by designing a shape, learning how to plot the coordinates, and coding their custom shape using SwiftUI and the About Me sample app within Swift Playgrounds.
- Design an App Icon: Students can learn and apply app design principles to create a unique and memorable app icon that communicates an idea; practice rapid prototyping; collect feedback; and upload the icon to Swift Playgrounds to become part of an app.
Want to compete in the Swift Student Challenge?
Apple said students can submit their app playgrounds for the Swift Student Challenge during a three-week window in February 2024. Sign up at developer.apple.com to get word on when the challenge starts.
Source: Apple
