Apple WWDC 2013

Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is held annually in San Francisco. 5,000 developers attend, and the tickets sold out in 71 seconds this year. Fortunately for the students that couldn’t get a ticket, Apple sponsors 150 scholarships for students age 13 or older. In previous years, the requirements to submit a scholarship application were simple. You had to provide some basic information - you’re age, your school, etc. In addition, you had to answer several questions, such as “Describe an important lesson or key learning moment you've experienced developing apps.” and “Think about an app you frequently use. How would you improve it?” This year, the requirements were tougher - you had one week to create an iOS or Mac app about yourself, showcasing your creativity and knowledge, in addition to answering the questions that appeared in previous years. 

Among the 5,000 people attending the conference were all kinds of developers - from students like me to people who have been programming for decades, and everyone in between. Among these people, I was most excited to meet the other student developers. For once, I was surrounded by people who were interested in the same things I was. This was great, because I will keep in touch with these people, from all over the world for a long time to come.

I first started programming when I was 8 years old. My dad, a software engineer, got me started. Then, around the age of 10, I got an iPod Touch. One day, I began to wonder how those apps that I used so much were made. After some research, I found that they were programmed on a Mac. After much pestering and begging, I finally convinced my parents to get me a Mac. It was an old, beaten up, worn down Macbook, but I couldn’t wait to use it. From there, I stuck with it for several months, and made several apps that I put on the App Store. My parents could see I was serious about programming - so they decided to finally buy me a brand new Macbook Pro, and I’ve been programming ever since.

The main challenge of computer programming comes from the computer itself. Contrary to what some people think, computers are very simple-minded. Even smartphones. They don’t know how to do anything, so programmers must “explain” to computers all kinds of things, from playing YouTube videos to getting emails. This means giving step-by-step instructions, but computers don’t understand English. So special computer languages are used, with catchy names like Objective-C, Java, and C++.

Programming is not as hard as one might think. It takes patience and perseverance, but there are plenty of helpful resources – from videos to books to online communities. And most importantly, it’s great fun!

Lenny Khazan, Woodmere