Mobile Development club, though different than the programming classes at MVHS, unites all application creators
Google Android and Apple iPhone users finally have something in common.
No, it‘s not that they can both be covered by Verizon, but that they have the option to join the new Mobile Development club to create applications for their phones. However, the club is distinctly separate from the programming classes at MVHS.
“The idea is to basically take what you learn the programing classes [like JAVA, C++, and AP computer science] and apply it to the real world phenomena that’s really popular and interesting,” president senior Paras Sud said.
However, there is still a major difference between the Apple iPhone and Google Android. Therefore, the club teaches two different methods of creating applications: one for each type of smart phone.
“The Apple [iPhone] uses something called the objective-C, and the Google Android phone use something that is built on java,” advisor AP Computer Science and Java teacher Scott DeRuiter said. “So, the Java classes and mobile development, the stuff is related, but when you are building a mobile app, you have have to think of other things in account.”
However, what students learn in the club is not taught in the classes. “I want people to gain experience…by taking on community projects on hands, [the members] will at least learn basic standards [of programming] and maybe be able to apply it,” Sud said.
The club’s community projects, paid or non-paid, are given by other organizations to the club so the members will be able to apply their new-found knowledge. Since there are two major phone applications, Sud will be teaching the Android programming, while vice president junior Wells Santo will be teaching the iPhone portion.
“I’m teaching the iPhone…because the iPhone application is a big market. Like you’ve seen the apps that everyone sees. Being able to make those apps is a really good skill to have, especially in the silicon valley,” Santo said.
As we all know, not everything stays current forever (case and point: pagers anyone?), but the Mobile Development club hopes to mold the focus to whatever is current in the market. Since Sud is a senior, the club will be focused on the iPhone application next year unless they find a replacement.
