New Swift certification program validates coding skills for students

Zac Hall | Jul 30 2018 - 8:48 am PT

Students learning to create apps with Apple’s Swift programming language now have a way to validate their skills with a new certification program. App Development with Swift is a new academic certification course created by Certiport in partnership with Apple that measures students’ ability to program with Swift after completing a year-long program.

The new Swift certification program will be available starting this fall:

Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, today announces App Development with Swift Certification for secondary schools and higher education. The global certification program is built on Everyone Can Code, a free, comprehensive program designed by Apple to help everyone learn to code and build iOS apps with Swift. The App Development with Swift Certification exam will launch in fall 2018 to allow schools to validate student Swift programming language skills.

The new course runs a full year and teaches students with no coding abilities how to create apps with Apple’s Swift programming language. Teachers can then use the App Development with Swift Certification exam to test students and their ability to code with Swift.

Pearson VUE says certification for students includes:

Knowledge of Swift

Discover, explore, and demonstrate how to use the fundamental building blocks of Swift.
Learn the basic concepts of Swift programming including syntax, logic, structures, functions, and patterns.

Knowledge of App Development

Learn the basics of the Apple Software Development Kit.
Explore and use developer tools such as Playgrounds, Xcode, Simulator, and Interface Builder.
Learn how to build and run iOS apps using Swift.
Explore and learn common tools, technologies, interface elements, and design patterns used to build iOS apps.
Learn the skills needed to build iOS apps for iPhone and iPad.
Learn to use common iOS frameworks in hands-on app projects.

The new course is designed to bridge “the gap between education and industry” that exists with Apple’s existing Everyone Can Code curriculum as Certiport intends for its certification to be widely adopted as a way to measure Swift as a skill.

Educators can learn much more about the new Swift certification program from Certiport’s overview. Apple also details the curriculum guide with additional details here.