Over the past few months, Kristin Marsicano, myself, and many others on the Android team here at Big Nerd Ranch have worked on the fourth edition of our Android Programming book. Keep reading to find out what’s in store!
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Over the past few months, Kristin Marsicano, myself, and many others on the Android team here at Big Nerd Ranch have worked on the fourth edition of our Android Programming book. Keep reading to find out what’s in store!
Returning for a second year, KotlinConf is the place to learn about new Kotlin language advancements straight from the source - the language designers themselves.
The day is finally here: our guide to the Kotlin programming language will soon be on store shelves
Big Nerd Ranch landed a spot on the highly respected Top UX Designers in Atlanta list recently published by Clutch.
mobbed.io recently chose Big Nerd Ranch as a top company on its “20 Best iOS Development Companies in the World” list.
After a grueling 72-hour competition, our Clash of the Coders 2017 projects are complete and the results are in. With only a few points separating each of our teams, we present our three winners.
The time has come… Clash of the Coders is nearly here. This three-day competition is designed to encourage our Nerds to explore new technologies, push their skills to the limit and consume as much coffee as humanly possible.
The journey to the tech industry isn’t always from Point A to Point B. In fact, it often involves many twists and turns (and sometimes even a roundabout) to get to where you’re supposed to be. This blog posts highlights my personal experience from coding amateur to Big Nerd Ranch employee.
The Nerds at Big Nerd Ranch are instructors, authors and prodigies. They are passionate about waht they do, and they make working fun, whether we’re designing an iOS app for a client or putting together a web application for our internal team.
Chris has been lucky enough to read the 3rd edition of Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide early (because he helped write it) and now he wants to tell you about it.
Whenever we start a new edition of the Android book, our first question is what you would expect—what new things do we want to put in the book? And for many books, that would be the start and end of it. However, at Big Nerd Ranch, things can be a bit more complicated.
This year, our Nerds really outdid themselves with their blog posts. We’ve had a lot of content to write about—Android Nougat, Swift 3, iOS 10, Elixir and more— and they didn’t disappoint. Check out the top developer blog posts of the year in each category.
Big Nerd Ranch has been chosen as one of the top software training providers in the world by Training Industry.
We’re excited to announce that our client Roadie has won the Best Mobile Startup Award at the 2016 Atlanta Mobile Awards. Presented by the Atlanta Mobile Marketing Organization (AMMO), the awards celebrate innovation in mobile technology and bring attention to mobile marketing, mobile development and mobile hardware created in Atlanta.
Starting next year, Big Nerd Ranch is bringing its immersive bootcamps to Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Big Nerd Ranch has been featured in a number of publications lately. Check it out!
Join Big Nerd Ranch in San Francisco and at our HQ in Atlanta to discuss the Google I/O 2016 announcements.
It’s over! Brian, Kristin, Chris and I are finally done working on the second edition of Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide, Second Edition.
Looking back on it, though, it’s all a blur. We spent months working on it! We must have been up to something.
Clash of the Coders 2015 has come to a close. Once again, our developers split into teams to face off in a 72-hour coding competition, building apps for a chance at Nerdy glory. Even though it was a tough call, we narrowed it down to three winners. Without further ado…
It’s once again time for the greatest app-building competition in the history of Nerd-dom: Big Nerd Ranch’s Clash of the Coders. Held in the coliseum that is our Intergalactic Headquarters, this annual event challenges us to seek out fame, new technology and the very limits of our skills.
We’re starting off 2015 right, here at the Ranch.
In the past 365 days (that’s 8,760 hours or 525,949 minutes), we’ve been busy developing, teaching and learning. Let’s take a scroll down memory lane and look at 2014 by the numbers.
The year is coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean we’re winding down. We’re busy preparing for CocoaConf Atlanta, right in our neck of the woods. If you’re attending the conference Dec. 4-6, you’ll definitely have a Nerd or two in your midst.
Our Nerds are a group of globetrotters lately. We’re attending and speaking at conferences throughout September, so keep an eye out for us at these events:
Since 2001, the Big Nerd Ranch logo has featured a nerdy propeller affixed to a 10-gallon hat. This friendly little chap perfectly embodies our character and culture, but it was time for a makeover. Our Design team carried out some small but key changes to make our brand look more modern.
August's Big Nerd of the Month took home the title in a landslide vote. Word around the office is that Project Strategist Kathryn Thomas exemplifies Nerd values, bringing our best to client projects.
Our Nerds are attending and speaking at conferences around the globe. Here’s a roundup of where we’ll be over the next few weeks:
Learn more about our July Big Nerd of the Month, John Gallagher.
Big Nerd Ranch brings its signature, immersive bootcamps to Callaway Gardens in 2015. New location will feature same expert instructors delivered in the same retreat-style format students expect.
Our latest Big Nerd of the Month is a driving force: he not only leads a team as they build iOS apps for clients, he’s also co-author of iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide and makes sure our Beginning iOS boot camp remains top notch.
Our Galactic Headquarters have gotten even bigger and better, and we’re now at home on the range at our new Intergalactic Headquarters in Atlanta’s Kirkwood neighborhood.
We're getting ready for Google I/O! Join our knowledgeable Nerds in San Francisco and at our Intergalactic HQ in Atlanta to discuss the conference’s latest announcements.
June’s Big Nerd of the Month is the superstar developer behind the newly revamped Big Nerd Ranch website. He worked efficiently and tirelessly to help us turn our our big ideas (and even our vague ones) into a reality, with patience, kindness and brilliance. He not only made the site look great and work well, he produced a clean build that sets us up well for future iteration.
Our Nerds are attending and speaking at conferences around the globe. Here’s a roundup of where we’ll be in June 2014:
Though he’s been with us for just eight months, Business Development Representative Mathew Jackson stands out as a problem-solving whiz. He’s a pro at helping clients find the right solutions to meet their needs, and has recently closed his largest deal to date.
After 72 hours of intense coding and hard work, Clash of the Coders 2014 has come to a close. This year’s race was very close, but there can be only one winner.
Each year, we hold a 72-hour app-building competition called Clash of the Coders, where we challenge our Nerds to explore new technology, push their skills to the limit and test just how much coffee they can possibly consume.
It surprised none of us when San Smith was named our most recent Big Nerd of the Month. As Office Manager, San makes all of our lives easier, and in March, she was a driving force behind our recent move to our new Intergalactic Headquarters.
Our Nerds are attending and speaking at conferences around the globe. Here’s a roundup of where we’ll be in April:
We’re a busy bunch at Big Nerd Ranch—not just at our desks, but also at conferences around the globe. Here’s a rundown of where we’ll be this month:
Todd Gandee is February’s Big Nerd of the Month. His teaching style and hard work have led to solid products that benefit both students and instructors.
This Valentine’s Day, there’s a lot to love about Big Nerd Ranch.
Happy Nerd Year! In this joyful new year of nerdiness, we’re honoring our January Big Nerd of the Month, Chris Donnelly. Chris is still new to Big Nerd Ranch, but he’s made a big impact.
For Big Nerd Ranch, the last year was full of teaching, developing apps and learning from one another. We published books, added courses and—well, we’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.
The holidays have come to an end, but we can’t finish out the season without announcing the winners of our “My Very Nerdy Wish List” Pinterest contest.
‘Tis the season to be nerdy! One special, very merry Nerd has personified this festive motto all holiday season: our December Big Nerd of the Month, Mikey Ward. Mikey is our self-pronounced cuddliest nerd. And for good reason. Have you met him? If not, go give him a hug; you’ll feel better.
Want to win Big Nerd Ranch prizes and 10% off the bootcamp of your choice? Enter our Very Nerdy Big Nerd Ranch Wish List contest for your chance!
When we aren’t busy teaching bootcamps or building apps for our clients, we’re showing off our Nerdy prowess by getting involved in our community through our code retreats, tech talks and other events. Here’s a sampling of our recent Tech Talks, plus a bonus video from this summer that you may not have seen before.
The holidays are here at last. Which Nerd are we most thankful for this November? Congratulations, Stafford Brooke, you’re our November Nerd of the Month!
I started at Big Nerd Ranch just a couple of months ago as a Mobile UX/UI designer, and since then, I’ve been amazed by what I’ve learned and experienced. I wanted to share what brought me here, and what makes me want to stay.
If you’ve been a fan of the Ranch for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve grown… a lot… very quickly.
Last time, we declared Project Strategist Jenn Green Big Nerd of the Month, but who reigned supreme this month? Drumroll please…
It’s Big Nerd of the Month time again. This month’s winner earned her spot in our Nerd Hall of Fame by fastidiously ensuring that our developers and our clients are happy. (Whew!) Without further adieu, I’m proud to introduce Project Strategist Jenn Green as our September 2013 Big Nerd of the Month!
It’s my favorite time again, when we announce the Big Nerd Ranch Big Nerd of the Month!
Our latest Big Nerd of the Month is a brilliant guy, a prolific speaker (perhaps you saw his closing keynote at RubyConf India?) and an open-source expert. We are incredibly proud to name Andy Lindeman Big Nerd of the Month for July 2013.
Hack Nights are Big Nerd Ranch’s way of getting to know our community and sharpen our own skills. On Monday, we collaborated with MailChimp and challenged developers to hack on MailChimp’s revamped API.
After a brief hiatus, we are pleased - nay ecstatic - to bring back the Big Nerd of the Month. For our regular blog readers, this latest winner is a name you frequently see within these revered web pages. He is a Nerd amongst Nerds. His coding chops are undisputed (can we say Clash of the Coders winner?). His hacking reigns supreme. His creativity is unmatched. In fact, he is the brains (and voice) behind our recent Cocoa Got Blocks music video masterpiece.
We recently held our second annual Clash of the Coders, a 72-hour app-building marathon where we test our technical prowess and compete for glory. “The winners are dangerously capable,” as Chief Learning Officer Aaron Hillegass says.
We’re pleased to announce our Beginning iOS Game Development course, led by Rod Strougo. In this course, you’ll build four games in five days, using Cocos2D and Box 2D. If you’ve ever wanted to create a game for iPhone or iPad, this is the perfect opportunity to learn how.
We’ve rebooted our OpenGL class! OpenGL is one of the most popular 3D graphics APIs, and our class now focuses on OpenGL ES (“Embedded Systems”), the flavor used by iOS, Android and WebGL. I’ve been developing the new curriculum and couldn’t be more excited about teaching the next session in early March.
2012 was a great year for Big Nerd Ranch. Here’s our take on the year, in numbers.
We’ve been making headlines lately:
I recently became our Developer Evangelist. In this role, my goal is to make the best developers in the world want to work with us. I constantly encourage developers to come out to the many events that we host.
Jonathan Wallace explains why being healthy in every way is important to our culture.
Many of you may have heard that Big Nerd Ranch and Highgroove Studios have merged to become a bigger, badder Big Nerd Ranch. Highgroove Studios’ Charles Brian Quinn, aka CBQ, will serve as CEO, overseeing strategy and day-to-day operations. Aaron Hillegass will be the combined company’s Chief Learning Officer, dedicating more time to his passion for writing, teaching and mentoring Nerds.
_Special guest post by LeAnn Boucher, Ranch Public Relations.
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In case you missed it, I (markd) appeared on NSBrief, interviewed after CocoaConf DC. I think we started around midnight, which is why Saul Mora and I are pretty punchy.
Aaron Hillegass will be on MacBreak Weekly, Tuesday at 11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET.
We interrupt the discussion of Notifications to notify you of this special guest post by LeAnn Boucher, Ranch Public Relations.
Special guest post by LeAnn Boucher, Ranch Public Relations.
Special guest post by LeAnn Boucher, Ranch Public Relations.
Special guest post by LeAnn Boucher, Ranch Public Relations.
It’s amazing to look back at Highgroove’s Top 10 Moments of 2006 while compiling this list of our top 10 moments of 2010.
Big Nerd Ranch has a reputation for mind-blowingly excellent Cocoa and iPhone training. A reputation like this is difficult to maintain. In particular, our students expect our instructors to be experienced, friendly, knowledgeable, articulate, and committed.
Juan Pablo Claude recently taught the Big Nerd Ranch’s new “Django Bootcamp” at the offices of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The engineers in the class created a a blog of their experience.
Public radio’s Marketplace is a very thoughtful radio show that reaches 8 million people on 330 radio stations nationwide. This evening they did a great piece about Big Nerd Ranch.
OK, so it’s not as entertaining as the Top 10 YouTube Videos of 2006 or as heart-wretching as the Top Ten Breakups of 2006, but Highgroove Studios had a lot of great moments this past year.
For much of the history of computers, technical training has received very little attention. I started Big Nerd Ranch because I thought it could be taken to another level – expert instructors, relevant materials, great settings. I’m very proud of what we do: we have become the technical training company for people who hate technical training. But for the last five years, I have been looking over my shoulder for something terrible to happen. Well, it did.
We have created the Big Nerd Ranch Weblog so that we can share some knowledge with everyone. We sincerely hope that the information presented here is useful. We will be talking about the stuff we consult and teach classes on: