App course

Lesson 1 • Mobile App Ecosystem Overview

Covers the landscape of mobile platforms, app stores, and user expectations. Establishes context for all subsequent technical and design decisions.

Lesson 2 • Core Programming Concepts for Apps

Reviews variables, functions, control flow, and object-oriented principles as applied in app development. Ensures all learners share a common coding baseline.

Lesson 3 • Setting Up Your Development Environment

Guides installation and configuration of essential tools and SDKs. A working environment is required before any coding or design work begins.

Lesson 1 • Mobile UI Design Principles

Introduces spacing, typography, colour, and touch-target guidelines specific to mobile. These principles underpin every layout and component decision in the chapter.

Lesson 2 • Layout Systems and Containers

Teaches flexbox, grid, and stack-based layouts used to position elements on screen. Mastery here enables responsive designs across device sizes.

Lesson 3 • Prototyping and Design Handoff

Demonstrates wireframing, interactive prototyping, and exporting assets for developers. Bridges the gap between design intent and implementation accuracy.

Lesson 4 • Core UI Components

Covers buttons, inputs, lists, cards, and modals as reusable building blocks. Students compose these components into complete screen layouts.

Lesson 1 • Global State Management

Teaches context providers, reducers, and store-based architectures for app-wide data. Solves prop-drilling problems and enables consistent data access across screens.

Lesson 2 • Passing Data Between Components

Covers props, callbacks, and event emitters for parent-child and sibling communication. Establishes patterns that scale before introducing global state solutions.

Lesson 3 • Asynchronous State and Side Effects

Handles async operations, loading states, and error boundaries within state management. Prepares students for real-world data fetching and background task scenarios.

Lesson 1 • HTTP and REST API Fundamentals

Explains HTTP methods, status codes, headers, and RESTful resource conventions. This knowledge is prerequisite for all network calls made in the chapter.

Lesson 2 • Authentication and Secure Requests

Covers token-based auth, OAuth flows, and secure header injection for protected endpoints. Security is introduced here before students build user-facing login features.

Lesson 3 • Error Handling and Retry Logic

Implements network error detection, user-facing error messages, and exponential backoff retries. Robust error handling is essential for production-quality apps.

Lesson 4 • Making Network Requests

Demonstrates fetch, axios, and similar HTTP clients for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE calls. Students integrate live API endpoints into existing app screens.

Lesson 1 • Key-Value and Async Storage

Implements simple persistent storage for settings, tokens, and small data objects. Covers read, write, and delete operations with async patterns.

Lesson 2 • Data Synchronisation Strategies

Covers conflict resolution, delta sync, and background sync between local and remote data. Ensures data consistency when users switch between online and offline states.

Lesson 3 • Storage Options Overview

Compares key-value stores, relational databases, file systems, and secure storage vaults. Choosing the right mechanism prevents performance and security issues later.

Lesson 1 • Push Notifications

Configures push notification services, handles foreground and background delivery, and manages notification channels. Notifications are a primary re-engagement tool.

Lesson 2 • Location and Mapping Services

Retrieves GPS coordinates, tracks location changes, and renders maps with custom markers. Location features require careful battery and privacy management.

Lesson 3 • Camera and Media Access

Integrates camera capture, photo library access, and media playback into app screens. Covers both image and video workflows with proper permission handling.

Lesson 4 • Permissions and Privacy Model

Explains runtime permission requests, user consent flows, and privacy-by-design principles. Permissions must be understood before accessing any hardware feature.

Lesson 1 • Integration and Component Testing

Tests interactions between components, navigation flows, and API integrations in a simulated environment. Catches bugs that unit tests miss by testing combined behaviour.

Lesson 2 • End-to-End Testing

Automates full user journeys on real devices or emulators to validate complete app behaviour. E2E tests provide the highest confidence before a release.

Lesson 3 • Debugging Tools and Techniques

Uses breakpoints, log inspection, network monitors, and layout inspectors to diagnose issues. Effective debugging reduces development time and improves code quality.

Lesson 4 • Unit Testing Fundamentals

Writes isolated tests for functions, components, and state logic using testing frameworks. Unit tests form the foundation of a reliable automated test suite.

Lesson 1 • Continuous Integration and Delivery

Automates build, test, and deploy pipelines using CI/CD tools triggered by code commits. Automation reduces manual errors and accelerates the release cadence.

Lesson 2 • Code Signing and Certificates

Manages signing certificates, provisioning profiles, and keystores required for app distribution. Code signing is mandatory for publishing to any official app store.

Lesson 3 • Build Configuration and Environments

Configures development, staging, and production build variants with environment-specific variables. Proper build configuration prevents accidental data exposure in production.

Lesson 4 • App Store Submission Process

Covers metadata, screenshots, content ratings, and review guidelines for major app stores. A complete and accurate submission reduces rejection risk significantly.