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Jeroen Leenarts: Hi, and welcome
to another special edition of my
podcast. I'm sitting here with
Adam Roche. Adam is actually a
colleague of mine at the company
that I work stream. So we'll
probably go into that a little
bit, as well. But there's a lot
of other things that I wanted to
talk about with Adam. He's had a
very busy 2021. And yeah, just
want to get his story on those
things, and also learn a little
bit more on his backstory, how
he got into software
development, and iOS
specifically. So Adam, Hi, how
are you doing today?
Adam Rush: Hey, I'm so happy to
be on your podcast.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah, it's a
bit weird to talk to each other
each day. But then in this
setting, it is a bit different,
I guess. So just to get things
started. We are colleagues at
stream. I'm IOS Developer
Relations lead. And but what's
your role?
Adam Rush: Well, it's is more
recently changed. But yeah, I
mean, I joined the stream, in
September just gone as principal
engineer on iOS, but more
recently changed to a bit more
of a push. job title, but a
similar role as technical
director on iOS, specifically,
as well.
Jeroen Leenarts: So what's the
difference between a principal
engineer and a technical
director then,
Adam Rush: so I guess, a bit
more strategic, a bit more
business focused, and also a bit
more management responsibility
by guests with with the
terminology as technical, it's,
it's very much hands on, you
know, staying close to the
ground, seeing what technical
requirements we have, but
myself, again, a bit more wider,
in terms of the impact across
the business estate. So
collaborating more cross over
SDKs, forget about what the
impact is across, you know, the
backend, and how much load we're
pressing on that. So I see it as
very much a principal engineer
in row in terms of staying close
to the code base, seeing what's
going on there. But very much
widening the scope, and forget
about the impact across the
engineering teams, forecasting
the budget of how much we're
going to spend there and the
investment. So it's, it's kind
of doing that true, what I'm
really passionate about, which
is a bit more strategic bit more
business, and also working more
closely with the people on the
team as well. The
Jeroen Leenarts: two of us know
each other from our work at
stream, but online, what are
some things that people could
know you from?
Adam Rush: Yeah, it's a it's a,
it's been a busy 2021, I can't
believe we're in another new
year, actually, it's been really
busy. So I launched swift leads,
which is a brand new Swift
conference here in the UK, it
was due to launch actually in
2020. But COVID kind of
disrupted that, but we managed
to launch in 2021. And it was,
it was really nice, actually,
just to be the person who
regroups almost unites the
community, given what's going on
in the world. So I managed to
get that off the ground last
year. And then also, I've spent
most of my time, actually,
probably the last five or six
years working for Ray
wonderlic.com. So I was offered
there, write tutorials, blogs,
videos, books, actually, I've
done done a bit of everything
there. But more recently, I've
started my own blog, swiftly
rush.com I just started to
realize that I need to kind of
build up my own brand a little
bit, and just do some stuff for
me. So So I launched that this
year, it's been great
financially, right, in my own
tutorials and articles and, and
kind of learning how to run a
website. Because this is this is
also new territory for me, you
know how SEO works. So it's been
it's been nice to do a little
bit bit of different stuff. So
yeah, there's it, there's a few
friends, I like to keep busy. I
like to do tons of stuff for the
community, because you know,
that's how, that's how I
learned. That's how I add to the
industry. So I've always given
back so there's a few friends
you might see me on.
Jeroen Leenarts: So you
mentioned a couple things there.
So that's swift leads your
workflow, right when like.com
and your websites, the first of
all, Swift leads that's a
conference in Leeds United
Kingdom, correct, correct. Yeah.
And you were able to pull off an
addition in person in 2021. So
how did that happen? Because
it's the first time that you
that you ran swift leads, right?
Adam Rush: The only was it the
first ever swift leads, but it
was the first ever conference
that I've ever be behind. I've
always attended conferences, so
I kind of know how you know the
logistics of doing a fin but I
don't Finger quite anticipated
how much energy is required. But
yeah, it was it was more so
difficult, given the
circumstances that that we live
in. However, the UK at the time
was was okay in that sense. But
yeah, it did bring additional
challenges more so given the
situation, but you know what it
was, it was such an honor and
pleasure, because the majority
of people that attended the
conference, were very new to the
industry, the enthusiasm and the
passion of people that arrived,
the energy that they were giving
off was just so high. And
afterwards, I was like, a dust.
The reason why we put that on,
unite in new people who are
joining the industry was so
powerful. Afterwards, I was
like, on cloud nine, I was like,
This is amazing. For me, that's
what it's about, you know, it's
a nonprofit conference, nobody's
making money, hopefully
affordable for many, many
people. And if not, then,
especially this coming year, we
really plan on inviting people
who might not be able to attend
otherwise. So I really want it
to be what I said on the day,
which is a conference built by
the community for the community.
And I hope we can keep that
going for as long as I'm around,
involved. And we've also invited
the community to be part of the
conference. So we had an open
invite this year, and we've got
15 people on the team from
around the world would you
believe, and from all kinds of
backgrounds, and the hope is
that everyone can really chip in
and change the conference so
that it's really inviting fit
for everyone. So I'm really
looking forward to seeing how
that develops.
Jeroen Leenarts: So that was
like a first time ever
conference that you organized,
there was some some window of
opportunity in a global
pandemic, how tense was that?
Because how many lead time did
you have before the actual
execution and that you actually
committed to hiring a venue,
getting people to pay for
tickets and all the logistics
that surrounds preparing for a
conference?
Adam Rush: Yeah, I planned for a
normal event. So I was assuming
that everything was going ahead.
But I always had, in the back of
my mind of what is Plan B, you
know, what if the government
announce a closure, what if we
can't hearse, so many people. So
I always had the plan B in the
back of our pocket, just in case
we needed to deviate away. And
one of the messages I kept on
pushing out especially on social
to people was the minister, but
we're not spending the money. If
you need a refund, if you want
your money back, if you can't
make it if you don't feel
comfortable, the money's there.
So do as you know, no quibble,
refund policy available to
everyone. And we just plan for
that normal event. And then
about one or two months before,
that's when we start buying the
swag and all the stuff that you
know, we needed. A rally started
sort of closing in as the time
window is shortened. But yeah,
it was very much of let's just
plan for a normal event. But
we've got the plan B Ready, just
just in case.
Jeroen Leenarts: And what was
this plan B cancel like a like a
Complete Cancellation refund as
much as possible and cancel all
the all the catering and stuff
that you had arranged. Up to
that point.
Adam Rush: Yeah, we would never
have postponed we would have
simply canceled for for the
following year. And the refund
would have been available to
anyone. But actually, you know
what, most people who, who had
bought a ticket initially, they
were very supportive. They said,
Look, we want to attend at some
point. So we're gonna keep our
ticket. We had people buy in
from almost probably 18 months
prior to the event even taking
place and they were brilliant.
They just wanted to support a
brand new conference, which was
overwhelming, actually, with
that level of support. But yeah,
we would have canceled for the
following year, offered a refund
if people wanted to. They just
plumbed again for for the next
year. But thankfully, that
wasn't the case.
Jeroen Leenarts: So and so
you're planning in another
edition in in 2022, I guess how
many tickets have carried over
from 2021 to 2022 at this point.
Adam Rush: So not so we we
fulfilled everyone's ticket. In
fact, we We had to turn people
away, which was, which was a
good week, we had so much hype
on social. Again, it was quite
overwhelming to see how many
people wanted to back a new
conference. And it got to a
point where people were
messaging me like a day before
night before, say, can I attend
a conference. But because of
COVID, because we were very
tight on that, the swag and the
food and we had to get that
booked in, we did have to turn
in a handful people aware. So
going into 2022, it's going to
be a clean slate, we'll open
super early bird tickets as
normal very soon. And then we'll
keep on rolling as we get closer
to the to the to the debt.
Jeroen Leenarts: And how many
people attended to Swift leads
this year, or at least 2021
edition.
Adam Rush: So we had 100. And I
think it was 121 ish, attendees,
which was quite again, it
surprised me, I forecasted about
50 people. That was my goal. And
we doubled it. And so so I was,
I was really chuffed with with
the turnout, we had a great
panel of sponsors who kindly
sponsored the event as well. And
it just meant we could really
invest in in the people and the
community and the conference.
And yeah, that that that was
that was brilliant. So this
year, I'm hedging my bets, I
want to double the number of
attendees. So I want to reach
200 people attend. So I that the
goal here is to become the go to
conference in the UK, I think
we've got that the scope with
the team, the community that
I've joined the coverage to
really go big, and make this the
best that can be here in in the
UK. So yeah,
Jeroen Leenarts: that's, that's
swift leads, it's in the name
where it is situated in the UK
in the city of Leeds. Is there a
specific reason that you pick
that city? Or was it just
because that's where you're
living? Or what's the reasoning
Adam Rush: a bit above. So Leeds
is a great city, sort of north
north of the UK, as well, I'm
from I was born here, I actually
live on the outskirts of Leeds.
Now I don't actually live live
in the city. But it's a great
place to live. But but as well,
it's, it's the north of the
country, it's not always the
most invested place in the UK,
it's done with the capital. So
it was, it was a very easy
decision to say, let's, let's
put this conference where not
all the invest, investment is
made, and allow everyone you
know, no matter where you are in
the UK to attend. So it's, it's
a very accessible place. We had
people from London, because it's
only a few hours on the train.
But then we had people also from
Scotland, from the far north of
the country, and then also from
east and west. So is it was very
easy to come to the decision of
I know the city, it's a great
city. But also it's so
accessible, you know, anyone can
attend. And then also we have,
you know, International Airport
as well in Leeds, we can also
have people from outside of the
country attend. So it just it
kind of just made sense to to
stick it here.
Jeroen Leenarts: Just to switch
gears a little bit. You also
create content for Ray
wendling.com. Can you tell us a
little bit about your work
there?
Adam Rush: I joined Ray's
website about is probably about
five and a half years ago, which
seems like wow, what, where's
time gone? And the reason I
joined the website back then was
they were thinking about
launching an interview series
column on the website. And I
stuck my name in the hat to run
it and I managed to get it. And
I was running similar to this
but written and I was
interviewing iOS devs basically
in the community and I would
release it every every week. So
I had Jesse squires Miko Harmon,
like that there was quite a few
people I did it on, and then it
kind of phased over probably six
to 12 months and we kind of
decided we don't really want to
do this anymore. So I I then
joined the iOS pillar to do
monthly tutorials every month,
which was really fun and really
successful. And then I kind of
took on some videos and then I
did a book. Before I knew I was
kind of dabbling in all areas of
the Ray wonderlic.com website,
but it's such a really nice
community of people. You just
feel part of another team. So
it's, it's been really nice
being part of that website.
Jeroen Leenarts: And you've been
doing that for five and a half
years. So you mentioned so
initially these interviews and
then on the iOS team within
Raven licks company, really
because it's it's it's a
website, but it's an entire
company that's behind it. So but
what's the process that and
because you are you mentioned
videos, books, articles, who
comes up with the ideas for the
content,
Adam Rush: it's a real
professional setup as you can
imagine, I mean, the website
relies on top notch content, in
terms of quality, you know, so
it's, it's quality over
quantity, really. So rather than
pump it out quick, fast
articles, it's all about the the
quality of those. So
essentially, the pipeline works
by having a wish list, we use
trailer. So we'll have a wish
list of new articles new content
versus updating previous
content. And then essentially,
each month you pick one, and
then you run it through the
pipeline that they have. So the
pipeline is you prep an outline.
So a very basic, what's the
outline of the article, then you
do the sample project. So you
build up whatever project you
need for, for the article. And
each point, by the way, we have
a final pass editor who will
review each stage as it goes
through maximum changes if
required, then it goes into
writing, then it goes into
English editing. Then it goes
into tech editing. So the
technical edit of the article,
and then it goes into final pass
edit, which is the FP doing a
final review of all the changes
that have happened, and then it
goes into schedule. So from
start to finish. So if I started
a tutorial, in outline, to been
scheduled is probably about two
or three months. So that there's
enough contact going through.
That means you get a new one
each week, but we're really in
like two or three months behind.
Jeroen Leenarts: So as and how
does this work out with like the
typical cycle in Apple
development, because you have
like the yearly WWDC and then
there's like this big splash of
very new API's and new content
that a lot of people want to
write about. So how does that
fit in with this? Two to three
months cycle, then forever?
Mentally?
Adam Rush: Yeah, that's a really
good question. They have what
they call platinum offers, I
think, who are people who can
edit their own work, people
who've been writing for cert for
so long, they just are very
good. So they have this group of
platinum offers, and they
basically dedicate time to the
new stuff that's been released
so that it gets out quicker. So
I think it cuts it down from two
or three months to, I think, a
couple of weeks. So they work on
the new stuff that is come in.
It can speed up that process.
Jeroen Leenarts: Okay, we talked
about three things already. So
that your work at stream
strictly is conference, and you
work for array when elected
comm. But you also started a new
website recently.
Adam Rush: Yeah, so I see this
is me, Brandon, myself changing
tack a little bit in terms of
what I'm where I spend my time.
Like I said, previously, I've
spent so much of my time
dedicated to something that I
don't necessarily earn this year
for, this is my goal for for the
areas to launch of in that it's
something that I've thought of
my own kind of product if you
like. So for of launching my own
blog, right, in tutorials,
articles, content that's on my
own website, which is swiftly
rush.com. It's very much kind of
what I do already, right in
technical content, but on my own
website, but using it as a bit
of a learning curve as well
about how to run a website, how
to track SEO, how to make
improvements there, how to write
good content, how to make it
regular, you know, there's so
much behind a website, that it's
been quite a nice learning
curve.
Jeroen Leenarts: And what is the
biggest challenge behind running
the website? And because you've
been doing it for I think, a
couple months now.
Adam Rush: I would say the
biggest challenge is motivation.
It's when when you work for
someone else, you've got
deadlines, of course you have
people naturally pushing, you
know, where is this? How's it
going? motivating yourself is is
a new skill to learn. I do
already kind of have it. I've
had to kind of retrain my mind
to say, I need to do this
article. I must do it tonight.
Otherwise, nobody's going to get
any new content this week. You
know, prime example last night
was so here's a bit of a sneaky
peek. I've got a new article on
metric kit. I had to just kick
myself last night to really get
my head down on it. Get the
content down, get it written so
that I can launch it this week.
Yeah, I would say for anyone who
is interested in in this space?
Motivation is is hard. I think
everyone will admit that. But
you can really sort of train
your mind to just, I must do
this get the time to do
Jeroen Leenarts: this. How do
you get into iOS development?
Adam Rush: This is often
something I don't talk enough.
And I probably should. Again, I
think it would really inspire
other people. I've always been
into computers right very much
from teenage years sat on a
computer playing Habbo Hotel,
looking, looking at how how have
a hotel have built it using
Flash, I remember those days.
But I've always been into
computers. And when I was kind
of leaving school, my brother
bought an iPhone free. I was
like, wow, that is a cool
device. That is a cool phone.
And I was massively jealous. And
I managed to convince my parents
to buy me an iPhone 3g. And it
was life changing. I couldn't
believe the impact of that
device had on me, I was very
much so intrigued about how
these small squares on the phone
could be built. Like how can you
launch this on a on a phone. And
at that point, I was just even
though I was kind of coding
websites and doing back end
stuff, I was very much like, Oh,
this is really interesting. How
do I build this, I just so
happened to be able to have a
look into Xcode and how you
build it and read up on some
articles and tutorials. And
before I knew I built an app, I
don't know how it was possible.
But I'd built an app, it was
completely self taught.
Literally from that day, I was
so in love with what I built, I
managed to just learn even more.
And then my first ever job was
with a app studio in Leeds
actually. And the guy runs out
still runs it is a very good
friend of mine. And I was doing
a bit of everything. I was doing
some testing, some manual
testing, I was looking into
books, I was fixing bugs, I was
speaking to the product owners,
I was kind of just I don't think
I had a job, I was very much
doing a bit of everything. But
that was it was so important for
me because I was finding the
books, I was fixing them. And it
was at that point really started
to build up my development
skills, engineering skills. I'd
learned on an evening, I was
just obsessed with iOS
development. And then I was
there for a few years. And
that's when I applied for my
first kind of junior iOS
developer job. And you know,
I've never looked back I've
devoted 10 plus years to iOS,
which is unbelievable to think
10 plus years, it's like over a
decade.
Jeroen Leenarts: So but you
mentioned something interesting
as well that you already had an
interest in computers, when you
got involved with iOS devices
and iOS development. Did you
attend a formal education in
something computer science
related? Or what was the process
there? Because I'm just curious.
Adam Rush: Yeah, I didn't attend
any, I don't have a CS degree. I
don't, I didn't attend
university. The only real course
or learning I had was was very
much, you know, GCSE level,
which is here in the UK is is
like a, you know, college,
basically, it's after school
learning, which is, is when I
look back very much foundation,
it very basic, right, a bit of a
Python application. You know,
it's very, very basic. So I
don't, I wouldn't say that
helped. Massively. So So for me,
I would say is completely self
taught. And I think this is it
just shows the power of if you
are, if you're excited by
suffering, if you've got the
passion for suffering, you can
really, really explore it and
learn. You've got to have the
motivation. Don't get me wrong.
And you've got to be excited to
do it. But it's possible
Jeroen Leenarts: that you got
involved with computers at a
young age, probably playing
video games a lot. And then at
some point, you grew an interest
in software development. And but
what education do you exactly
have? So you went to high
school? I think it's called in
the UK as well. Yeah. And then
these, this college level
program that teaches some basic
programming skills with Python,
and then what so what's your
first job immediately right
after that, with this app
development studio in Leeds, or
was there something in between?
Adam Rush: Now, pretty much that
was the first job so my main use
of time I guess, at that point
was self teaching. I've it most
of my family for I was just do
what you described there play
video games, but there is a lot
of use of time of just learning
building apps. I remember
building a football app, which
was what kind of me a little bit
of money and I managed to buy a
new iMac at the time, which is
how I took it next level to be
able to have the hardware to
build my apps. And then I just
built the soundboard apps like
Africa. Everyone built one of
those, and just kept on learning
and learning until I felt
comfortable to actually apply
for a job. And yeah, I kind of
got the job. And then that was
it.
Jeroen Leenarts: That's really
cool. Because just That's an
entirely self taught path that
you took what was actually your
first computer that you got your
hands on?
Adam Rush: Well, so we had like
a shared family computer that we
all had, it was I think it well,
it was windows in the early
days. It was like an Acer or
something like that. Or maybe he
I think it was Toshiba, and I
think I still own that laptop.
I'm pretty sure it's somewhere
in my house, the very first
laptop we had was the was the
Macintosh that had the ball at
the bottom and then was on like
an arm. And then yet the flat
screen would say and save some
money I got, I think I'm pretty
sure it was called the iMac, it
was a flat screen, but it was
very bulky. And then was on the
stand, adapt. That's where I
kind of learned did most of my
development. I've still got that
Jeroen Leenarts: I'm seeing a
trend here. They all still have
that iPhone 3g lying around
somewhere, possibly. Yeah, you
got started with iOS
development, like right from the
start in the in the iOS three
days. So that's pretty much that
the the moment that Apple opened
up their developer ecosystem to
iOS apps, or iPhone apps, we
should say actually, because
iPhone wasn't beginning. And you
getting involved with with
software development more and
more, that that's like very
fortunate coincidence rated that
the timing of those two things
you getting done with which
education and then this
happening so that you could pick
up on that technology? And
basically, right, the the
adoption wave a little bit?
That's very fortunate, I think,
is that correct?
Adam Rush: Yeah, I would, I
would agree with that. I would
say back then it was far easier
to make a few pounds on the App
Store. Because you know, there
was nowhere near the level of of
apps available there now. But
also the quality of apps on the
App Store is so high. If you
want to get noticed it's it's
far more difficult now than it
was then. So I would say I was
lucky. But in the same breath, I
did work so hard on this on this
app. And I remember actually
standing outside of the football
ground actually handing leaflets
out to download this app. So I
was like, I must have this money
to buy this computer. Because
this is this is makeup. So I was
I was even handed leaflet. So I
mean, that is just bonkers.
Really, when you look back, you
know, but it worked. I had over
10,000 downloads of this
application, I hit the radio,
and I hit the newspaper. I do I
do say I'm lucky to sort of be
able to to make it at that
point. But there was there was
so much hard work involved, of
course, I'm not gonna say it was
easy. And actually, I think
anyone who joined the industry
at that time will probably
agree, we, we had to learn quite
a lot more, I would say
fundamental programming concepts
at that point, because you're
talking pre arc, so we had to
deal with all their memory
allocation manually. We had
Objective C, which wasn't the
easiest of languages to
understand. So I would say we
were quite lucky, because, of
course, Swift now is so they do
so much behind the scenes, you
don't necessarily need to
understand so many of those
those concepts. So I would say
it did me, especially a favor,
join in at a time so that I
could get my head around these
concepts. I still use those
today. You know, if we're
debugging memory issues, you
know, how does this look and you
sort of draw back on what you'd
learn 10 years ago, whereas I
think if I'd have joined now, in
the Swift days, I don't forget
up that same level of
understanding,
Jeroen Leenarts: having done
manual memory management, and
then having gone through the the
arc transition and to actually
understand what what Swift does
in the background with memory.
It's really helpful there
immediately touch upon a point
that I wanted to ask you about,
because how was that transition
for you? Moving from Objective
C, with all the bells and
whistles that were in place at
that point in time into Swift
because I've heard different
stories about how people's
experience was making the
transition from Objective C to
Swift.
Adam Rush: Yeah, I was quite a
late adopter to be honest. I
wasn't Wouldn't that was jumping
straight in writing the Swift
code I was very much like oh,
no, not not quite sure about
this yet. Because it had been so
involved in in Objective C and I
was kind of comfortable. Then
really windy like I said, right?
Everything we do now is swift.
That's That's all we're writing
swift only. And at that point, I
was like, wow, okay, this is
this is happening. This is a
fin. And I was unfortunate
because the company was up. I'm
trying to think where was that.
But the company I was at was,
was Objective C, they had no
plans of moving. So in my day
job, I was writing Objective C,
but then of course, that were
when like sight would say,
right, we're doing swift only.
So it's very much like, right, I
need to do swift in my own time,
because the day job isn't doing
it. At that point, it was very
much a ramp up, I kind of move
jobs, I was doing Swift. And
then before I knew I was only
doing Swift, but I would say I
was a late adopter. You know, I
can't remember exactly the
version. But I definitely wasn't
version one or two, for sure. I
probably saw a bit of it, but I
wasn't at all doing enough of
Jeroen Leenarts: it. Yeah, that
that basically means that you
skipped most of the big language
translations that you had to do
on each Xcode update, because
still remember those, you had
everything running in in a swift
version, and then a new Xcode
version comes out. And you have
to, first of all, let the waiter
do a lot of things. So that
stuff is like horribly broken,
and then spent like a day fixing
the rest of your source code to
be compatible with the new
version of the Swift compiler.
So we were fortunate enough to
skip most of that, by the sounds
of things. But do you still use
Objective C A lot nowadays? Or
is it more just a language that
you use for for referencing
material and understanding
what's more or less happening in
the Swift language?
Adam Rush: Yeah, I remember
hearing some horror stories
about the migration of Swift
versions. I can, I can
definitely relate to that. But
so in my previous job, more
recently, they still had an
Objective C, code base in the
sense that all the legacy stuff
was Objective C, and all the new
stuff was was swift. So So I
still had to tinker. Every now
and again. I said, Tinker,
because we wasn't really
writing, we would just kind of
maintain it. But now, especially
in this job, Swift, only, you
know, stream we have, I think,
zero Objective C, actually, I
think there's probably some old
legacy Reapers that have been
archived, but from, from my
knowledge, I don't think we have
any Objective C. Right. Now,
I've not looked at Objective C
for a few months. I don't plan
on doing so. You know, I joke
about it, but I truly respect
that language. Because, wow,
that's how I began, you know, I
won't forget it, I'll always
keep looking at it. Because that
was great times for me, you
know, and it is a good language.
It's a powerful language,
despite the, the negative it
gets, but it was, it was great,
you know, so I still respect
that the language, but I don't
plan on using it, if I can avoid
it.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah, the one
thing with with Objective C that
I really like is that the
verbosity of the signatures that
you're dealing with, so quite
often the you, you were calling
some message, and it was like,
You're just calling that message
was already like 40 characters
long, and then you still needed
to add arguments to it. And that
I really enjoyed that. Because
yeah, it was a lot of typing. Of
course, code completion was was
also helping. But then in
reference, when reading the
code, it was, for me at least,
it was much easier to understand
what was actually going on,
because there's so much
information in just the message
signatures alone. And then, of
course, on top of that you have
documentation. So I think we
pretty much are getting to the
position that we're a full
circle. Now. Is there anything
that we do still need to talk
about? Or did we forget
anything?
Adam Rush: I was just going to
say, as well, as some companies
that are still dedicated
themselves completely to
Objective C, I can't remember
which company it was. But I'm
pretty sure there was like a big
tech companies like saying,
We're just not adopting Swift.
So I still think there's still
quite a lot of Objective C, in
the industry. I don't know what
you think about that.
Jeroen Leenarts: I know that
there was at least a period that
if you want to develop an SDK,
then it was much easier to do
that in Objective C, because
delivering the SDK, either to
Objective C or Swift and users
was much more easier, because
that was like a very well known
path. And there was some support
for some features missing in
Swift. So to be able to do it
correctly, especially the module
stability, that that has been
like added not too long ago.
Because before that, the only
way that you could publish a
swift based SDK was by having
like all kinds of different
versions precompiled or doing
the source level release. And
now with ABI stability, we you
can at least like just compile
something and have it work on
range of Swift compilers,
because that was one of the
biggest issues before. Yeah,
with delivering a swift based
library to end users. Yeah. So I
think that that really prevented
adoption of Swift for about,
basically, library developers.
Because quite often with library
developers deselection,
propriety things going on, and
they just want to keep the exact
implementation details close at
heart. But nowadays, you can,
you can see with which stream,
even though the SDK is fully
open source, it's much easier to
for us to deliver an SDK to our
end users, because we can just
deliver a version of the SDK,
and we just need to make sure
that the minimum version of the
SDK is well, not it, we
shouldn't be using the Bleeding
Edge version of Xcode, but you
know, just one or two versions
back and then at least most of
our end users can just use the
SDK without issue, regardless of
what exact version of Swift
they're using at that point in
time.
Adam Rush: Yeah, that makes
sense. I just wanted to say as
well, like it'd be rude, kind of
not to include this, but I am
hiring it stream. It's been so
much fun here at stream, we do
have open roads actually on on
the SDK they've just been
talking about. So yeah, I would
just say if people listening are
interested in in China to me or
you as well, then, you know,
definitely reach out to us. Or
you can view our open roads on
catch stream Diab. Because,
yeah, it's, it's good fun,
right,
Jeroen Leenarts: just working
here since since November and
really enjoying myself. And what
I noticed is that the the entire
group of people that I've been
working with thus far, is
everybody is really on top of
the game, they they're very
knowledgeable on the work that
they're doing. And it's a very
open culture, people want to
share things and help each other
out. And on top of that, there's
a lot of room and attention for
the person behind the keyboard.
So it's what I noticed, one of
the reasons I started working at
stream is also because it fits
in very nicely with my family
life. Because I have some
challenges there with having to
spend some time on specific
things, at somewhat odd hours,
maybe for a regular nine to five
job. But with stream, that's
just not an issue, you just need
to declare what you need, make
sure that you get your work done
that you promise to deliver. And
if you do those two things, then
everybody's very happy with
whatever you're doing in your
day to day. And I think that's
one of the on top of that
technically challenging work.
It's it's one of the biggest
benefits that you actually can
have when working at stream. I
agree
Adam Rush: with that. And as
well, especially for me, I'm
spending so much time sitting
down with the engineers and the
team and working out what's next
for them. So they've always got
something to work towards, you
know, in terms of progression
and, and stuff. So yeah, it's
definitely an exciting time. So
just a small hint that we are
hiring.
Jeroen Leenarts: Okay, well,
I'll make sure to just make sure
that people can find you me
online, on Twitter, because
Twitter DM is probably the
easiest way. For listeners of my
podcast to reach out to the both
of us. It is indeed a bit of a
weird episode for me, because
it's a bit of a crossover
episode for me, because I work
at streaming, I'm interviewing
somebody who works there. So but
I hope that I was able to just
keep the company line a little
bit on the background and focus
on on Adam, the person doing
software development. And yeah,
I look forward to to hear what
people think of your journey.
And if you have any questions,
I'm sure that they can reach you
online. So what is your Twitter
handle? Actually,
Adam Rush: you can reach me on
Twitter, Adam known rich, I'm
also on other social platforms
as well as LinkedIn. And yeah,
I'm quite active, I post out all
my articles that I've published.
And I also have swiftly rich
weekly, which is a weekly
newsletter, which also curates
content from swiftly rush but
also content from other amazing
developers in the community as
well, so you can subscribe on
swiftly rush.com as well.
Jeroen Leenarts: Okay, well, I
think we're done then Adam.
Probably talk to you some more
later today on some other topics
that are work related. And
thanks for your time, and really
enjoyed our conversation. Yeah,
Adam Rush: thanks for having me.