Ionic framework and why you may want to use it

As a software developer and one that works with mobile applications you may have heard about Ionic, today we are going to discuss Ionic framework and why you may want to use it.

Ionic Logo

Ionic is one of the frameworks that we teach here at Softstack Factory, it is an HTML5 mobile applications development framework, it is free, open source and relatively new, the DriftyCo crew has been working on it for 2 years. It uses the existing HTML5 and CSS3 capabilities to deliver fast experiences and is focused mainly on the look and feel, and UI interaction of the app. One of the things that makes it so good is that it is not just another UI framework, Ionic is targeted at building hybrid mobile apps, which has many benefits over pure native apps, specifically in terms of platform support, speed of development, and access to 3rd party code.

Ionic is built on top of AngularJS framework from Google, Ionic utilizes it to provide the application structure, while Ionic itself is focused on the user interface. Ionic provides the connection between the power of Angular and the beauty of Ionic UI components. Ionic offers simpler building blocks that can be combined to deliver rich user interfaces.

It also comes with handy variables and mixins to extend the customized appearance and it’s packaged with its own open source icon library featuring over 440 icons to chose from.

All the functionalities that can be found in native mobile development SDKs are provided by Ionic. The apps can be built and customize for Android or iOS, and deploy through Cordova. As we said before, Ionic is not just another just another UI framework it is a complete ecosystem that helps you develop and build great Software.

SSF teaches Ionic to its students, because we believe that this tool and the complementary technologies provide a comprehensive set of knowledge needed to enhance their future as a software developer. “One of the biggest reasons we choose to use Ionic was that mobile is big and our students get to learn web technologies that are in great demand. This provides them two in high demand skillsets.” Says Harold Gottschalk, SoftStack Factory CEO.

Ionic is not for the development of desktop applications.  Browser compatibility is not comprehensive and for example Ionic does not support IE9 and therefore the developer should be aware of the target audience when allowing it to be used on desktop. Ionic is focused on hybrid mobile apps that run natively on (Android, iOS, Windows phone, Chrome and even Apple Watch) using Cordova.

Check out some beautiful apps built with Ionic! 

Meet our sponsors: Satellite Phone Store

One of our amazing sponsors is the Satellite Phone Store. They became aware of SoftStack Factory (SSF) via a mutual friend of SSF that had introduced them to our mission and goals. When they discovered SSF was in pursuit of a space in the downtown area, they had just vacated a space to accommodate their growth and offered the newly vacated space to SSF instead of subleasing it for the last 9 months.  SSF now has an amazing space to bootstrap its vision, train our students and we gained an amazing partner.

Satellite Phone Store helps the community in many other ways, did you know that satellite phones can help in natural disasters? We are all used to our phones working all the time, but during a natural disaster your phone may not work. Phones rely on infrastructure, and that can get damaged or destroyed during a disaster, causing lines to be down. Since natural disasters can strike anywhere and anytime, how can you be prepared?

All rescue services use Satellite communications to stay touch with base camps and local hospitals, so in this case Satellite Phones can be life savers.

Satellite Phone Store works with clients of all sectors: Air, Marine and Land, they can communicate with a satellite phone to anywhere in the world. The Satellite Phone Store started in 2004 motivated by a major hurricane in Florida to serve the community, now they provide satellite communication support coast to coast in the USA.

Satellite communication can go where normal cell phones can’t, they let you make calls from anywhere, in any situation you need. They don’t rely in terrestrial network, but directly to and from satellites orbiting the Earth.

SoftStack Factory is appreciative of the support of amazing companies like Satellite Phone Store.  If you or your company is interested in supporting our mission please contact us, we need more amazing supporters.

 

Find out more about SPS  

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Coding

Coding Bootcamps are everywhere, the technology industry keeps growing, and the wages in this field are much higher than others. Those are great reasons to start learning how to program, but if they are not enough, see if you fit in the profile with these 5 reasons why you should be coding!

Each component you create, each application you write, each feature you implement has some kind of value. That value will mean something to your public; people that use the final product or even other developers, that will enjoy the code you wrote and make their lives easier.
Things that you create can change other people’s lives on a daily basis, making it easier and better. And what can be more fulfilling than knowing you helped someone everyday?

Coding is full of details and repetition, if you are not always looking for ways to improve and interesting things to learn, you might get bored. If you are self-driven and love to boast about your work, you will love this world.
How nice is to be able to look at something you did a few months back, and to know exactly what can you improve to make your code better? That means that during those months you learned more, in software development there is always room to expand your knowledge!

Programming is all about fixing, solving puzzles and putting pieces together. So if you are good with logic problems, love to learn new tricks and to fix problems, you will be a great software developer.

Okay, so you are a creative person and programming is only numbers right? Wrong!
A new program is like a blank page, you can get creative and produce something completely new!
Frameworks, libraries, languages and more, they are all like paintbrushes that you will use to create your new piece of art, and the best thing, that artwork will be extremely useful to a  lot of people.

Well, like anything good in life, coding is full of challenges. Relax, most challenges will be very positive. Like we said before, programing is partially an art and you can get stuck sometimes, either creatively or technically. But one of the most rewarding things about coding is to finally find an elegant solution to the complex problem you have been thinking of all day.  So if you like challenges, you should definitely be coding!

Find out everything about our Alpha Code Camp!

Our qualifier group: Alex Baker, JP Brown, Joseph Lizarraga and Kim Montenegro

During the month of July we had our first SSF camp qualifier, and from there we select a few motivated millennials for our Alpha Camp. The selected students tasted what the SoftStack Factory coding bootcamp will be like.

During our Alpha Code Camp we experiment with a few teaching techniques and content to make sure we deliver the best education to our future students!

One of our selected students that helped us with this process was a 19 year old undergraduate from UC Irvine, Kimberly Montenegro. She allowed us to interview her to tell us how her experience went!
 

What were you doing before you started helping out on the SSF Alpha Camp?

Prior to helping with SSF I was finishing up my first year of instruction at school.

How did you find out about SoftStack Factory?

I found out about SoftStack Factory through a friend. As I told him that I had decided on changing majors to computer science he believed that this would be a useful and highly valuable experience.

We heard you are switching majors to Computer Science right? Did SSF help you with that?

I had originally gone to school declared as aerospace engineering however, after my first quarter I began looking into computer science.

SSF did help with that ultimate decision because it allowed me to become exposed to different resources and some of the issues that I would come across. It was through the numerous issues that I did come across that helped, because SSF taught me different techniques in being able to narrow down and identify what had caused issues and different ways to approach them in order to solve them.

How did you help with the creation of the SSF Curriculum for this Fall?

My involvement was to help test out different lessons and some of the course work that would be done in the fall and identify some issues that some students may come across through their journey at SSF.

Did you enjoy your experience?

Absolutely, in all honesty I wish I had more time.

Do you think this experience will help you with your degree?

There is not a doubt about it. I was able to learn different techniques and many different resources that has yet to be mentioned in any of my courses at school and it has let me get ahead because I am now fully aware of them and can incorporate them into my studies.

Would you recommend SSF for a person that wants to learn how to code?

Yes, I say this because they focus on teaching real world experiences that is crucial for a career with code and the techniques that is needed. They do not want to force you to memorize but rather understand issues and the steps needed in order to solve them.

What is your message for the young people that want to go on this direction for a career?

To those who want to pursue a career in this direction I would say to look into it and try to become exposed to it as early as possible. It is an incredible career choice and the demand for individuals in this career field are always growing. It is hard at the beginning however, so is anything else. Do not become discouraged at the beginning no matter how hard it may seem it will get easier as you get more exposure and practice.