ODR stands for On Demand Resources and it’s a new API introduced in iOS 9. It allows developers to host static assets that their apps need on Apple’s servers, and load them dynamically when required.

This will turn all apps using ODR into network apps. ODR is an element of their App Thinning initiative, which also includes App Slicing and Bitcode. Altogether, these techniques will allow Apple to continue shipping devices with 16GB base models, because it will now have much greater power to purge content from device local storage.

How ODR works

This is how you should look at your app with ODR.

There’s the base, which includes your executable code written in Swift, Objective-C, etc. And all the base resources used universally within your app. Everything else is managed by tagging your content in Xcode, and then using NSBundleResourceRequest to fetch your resources when needed.

NSB...

Probably like many of you, I’m currently researching the many things Apple has released today for WWDC 2015. Lots of big news, but one thing I found only while reading the developer site.

From now on, everyone with Xcode 7 and an iPhone will be able to run their own apps on their device. For FREE. No Program membership required! Here’s the excerpt from Apple’s site.

Xcode 7 and Swift now make it easier for everyone to build apps and run them directly on their Apple devices. Simply sign in with your Apple ID, and turn your idea into an app that you can touch on your iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch. Download Xcode 7 beta and try it yourself today. Program membership is not required.

Xcode’s page

To me, this is big news. After following Apple news and the tech world for a long time, finally, I decided to become a contributor. I really wanted to learn how to build iOS apps, but for that you...

At some point during my CS studies I decided to do a lecture on the C programming language. At that point I had no clue whatsoever about the language, but this was in a way an experiment to test if it’s any easier to learn something by trying to teach others about it.

First of all, I do acknowledge that it is a dangerous thing when noobs go on to teach other noobs. This can perpetuate all sorts of bad practices. Not intentionally, mind you, but through ignorance of the would be lecturer. His experience with the subject in question is only marginally greater than that of his students. But precisely because of that I feel there’s a lot of opportunity for new insights. Not to mention that it sure is easier to learn by teaching.

When you first approach something new, the things that puzzle you the most are the ones that receive the most attention. But at some point in your journey of...

In software engineering the Model-view-controller design pattern is widely used and most people have some understanding of what the general principle is. Basically, you have your logic and data that you encapsulate within a model and then a controller picks the right views to display the model and handle user inputs.

The separation of code into three independent parts provides a clear understanding of what the essence of the application is - the model. All the other parts (the controllers and the views) only offer different ways of accessing the model.

Mathematics

What about mathematics? Its so easy to get lost in such a vast field while searching for models. Think of the time you moved to a new city. Navigating yourself at first is very difficult and you often get lost. Once you become familiar with landmarks and main streets you begin to confidently plan your routes. After some...

It has been more than a year of studying and exploring computer science and math. And now a time to review it all and present it to people, because in a few hours I’ll be boarding a plane to London to attend Silicon Milkroundabout.

Feels a bit like Christmas. I really can’t wait to meet all the companies on my shortlist there. I simply technology and it gives me great optimism and a chance to meet some of the people pushing it forward and maybe collaborate is something I can’t resist.

Here’s to a great weekend!

P.s. if you would like to contact me - wilde.morgan@gmail.com

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything”

Tyler Durden.

This quote resonates so well because most(?) of us innately find pleasure in complete surrender. Almost like a primal instinct to submit oneself to the master, whoever that may be. Quite a few pack animals do this, dogs, for example, instinctively roll over and lay at their most vulnerable in front of the leader of their pack, which is usually their human owner. There are many other pack animal that behave similarly.

But you see this behaviour not only in the world of biology. Nature, as a whole, is like a machine designed for the purpose to find the state of least resistance. One of the most fundamental principles of the physics of motion is the principle of least action, it has it’s roots in the 1600’s when Pierre de Fermat postulated that “light travels between two given points along the path of...

The devil is in the details

To quote IBM - every day we create 2.5 x 10e18 bytes of data¹. What this number does, is it creates an image of incomprehensible amounts of stuff we create with the help of our digital tools. This number is even more awe inspiring when compared to all the data produced up to a certain time in our past². Add to that the fact that we’re increasing our rate of “data creation”, and you have a strong case for growing productivity. Except for one thing…

We are not creating that data, just revealing and storing it as bits. This might seem just wordplay, but to me it exposes part of the reason why we haven’t seen comparable growth in tangible production. We are not really producing much at all, just transferring what we already have to bits, while using services such as facebook, youtube or most any other top sites/apps. As goes the saying - “If a tree falls in the...

We are part of an industry that by definition and design is forward looking. As a result, it is real easy to trick yourself into thinking that whatever you’re working on is somehow a breakthrough. The truth is, most of us merely imitate.

As with any market - risk is where you make or break your name. There’s almost no risk in becoming an iOS or Android developer today. But there is almost no upside, too. The time to do that was 7 years ago. With hindsight it seems such an obvious thing, I mean who would argue with the potential of the iPhone? Loads of people did.

I guess the word to look out for is - obvious. All those obviously “good” ideas you probably keep on having, well, they’re probably just mashups of recent news, popping up from your subconscience. That’s why you’re not the only one thinking they’re good, once mass media is ready to publish some idea, it’s no longer obscure.

Br

Consider all the little things you do every day. How many of them do you consider as ends and how many as means? What if you could remove all the chores you have? The simple truth is - you would have more opportunities.

We are the beneficiaries of two centuries of progress in automation and as a result - it is difficult to single out all the little details, that we don’t have to take care off. One simple example - tap water, you just open the tap and water rains down. How much effort does that take? Now imagine you’re living in Bangladesh. To accomplish the same thing, you would need to travel for hours to reach the nearest well and then hours to get back. Given the limited nature of time, how many opportunities are taken away when just to sustain yourself, you have to spend multiple hours a day to get water?

We shouldn’t take things for granted, but we also shouldn’t stop moving...