What I built: Bonjournal, a travel journal app<p>- iOS app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bonjournal/id719266933)<p>- web app (https://bonjourn.al)<p>What and how I learned (in order of importance):<p><i></i>* Ruby on Rails <i></i>*<p>- Michael Hartl's Ruby On Rails Tutorial<p>- Railscast<p>- Code School<p>- Ruby Toolbox<p><i></i>* Objective-C <i></i>*<p>- Nerd Ranch iOS Programming<p>- NSScreencast<p>- Code School<p>- WWDC Videos (for performance improvements)<p>- CocoaPods Rank (https://gist.github.com/luvtechno/8842522)<p>And of course, a lot of Stack Overflow.<p>I didn't think it would be possible. I thought I was too old to learn. But I had a project in mind that I cared about, and I wanted to see it completed.<p>It's never been easier to learn -- go out there and create!<p>Special thanks to my wife, who is also my designer. Besides all the wireframes, marketing, and testing she has done, she also learned a little SASS and Objective C to make all those little pixel and font size adjustments. That was HUGE.
I still affirm that Michael Hartl's "Ruby On Rails Tutorial" (<a href="http://www.railstutorial.org/book" rel="nofollow">http://www.railstutorial.org/book</a>) is one of the most beautifully simplistic and effective tutorial books ever written. Combine his book with Ryan Bates's Railscasts (<a href="http://railscasts.com/" rel="nofollow">http://railscasts.com/</a>) and you can pretty much build anything you can think of. I learned RoR we these resources as well and am just starting to take the plunge into iOS. I haven't looked into NSScreencasts much, but I did obtain a copy of The Big Nerd Ranch Guide to iOS Programming (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Edition-Guides/dp/0321942051" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Edition-Guides/d...</a>).<p>Anyway, congrats on launching both an iOS and web application. Bonjournal looks awesome!
Thanks all for the kind words of support! Another essential resource was Basecamp's (formerly 37Signals) book, Getting Real. It is a must-read for anyone building software, especially for first-timers like us.<p><a href="https://basecamp.com/books/Getting%20Real.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://basecamp.com/books/Getting%20Real.pdf</a>
Congrats.. so how much fail to actually deliver.
The app looks beautiful.<p>Question - in terms of the iOS web, what's the Ruby vs Objective-C breakdown?<p>Are you using the same Rails back-end from the web app with the iOS app. Would love to speak with you, shoot me an email - username @ gmail.com
Congrats! :) I'm not sure how you're implementing responsiveness (it works fantastically btw) but if it's feasible it could be nice to de-emphasise the iOS app a bit on other mobile devices. I can see the site is basically the same as desktop but with the big iOS banner it felt a lot like a limited content mobile site.<p>That said the iOS app looks really nice - design reminds me a bit of airbnb which is definitely a good thing. Can I pay for an Android app some time? Congrats again!
You say that you took a year to learn RoR and Objective-C for this, but can I ask: were you starting from scratch as a programmer and was this a full-time project (or were you balancing your learning and development alongside having another job)?<p>Congrats on the launch! Both the app and the website look beautiful.
Wow, this is great, good job!<p>I am currently teaching myself while working full time in a non tech related career. May I ask how old you are? This is very encouraging. I'm currently Hartl's tutorial and CodeSchool, so hopefully I'm on the right track.
Beautiful and simple way to log trips! It never occurred to me to do it, but your app made me want to! Honestly think you can charge a buck more, and I rarely buy apps. Well, unless you have competition.