Mapt: How did you become a developer?

Jon: When I was 12 years old (back in 1980) I took a week-long introductory course at school. After the first day I was writing my first program and by the end of the week I was hooked on programming. From that point on I knew I wanted to work with computers.

J: I simply love working on computers. It really never mattered what I was doing, which has lead me through several different paths. I have done everything from development to networking and system administration (and just about everything in between).

M: How did you come to write a book?

J: With my background in networking and development, I wanted to write a book to help other developers do network development for iOS so I created a proposal and Packt accepted it.

M: Give us an interesting/fun fact about your book

J: The cover images of Mastering Swift and Mastering Swift 2 are actually pictures I took of the lake that I live on.

M: What is the best feedback you have received about a book?

J: One of the reviews of my Mastering Swift 2 book mentions the reviewer’s 13-year-old son picking up my book and reading it. I love hearing about children learning to program and if my books help that is awesome.

M: What do you think is the most exciting trend on the horizon?

J: Single board computers like the BeagleBone Black and the Next Thing CHIP. Using these computers we can build devices that interact with the external world (temperature sensors, motion sensors) and also Robots. The best thing is that we can use the Swift language on these devices.

M: What’s changed in the industry since you first started?

J: Everything! I started working with computers 36 years ago when I was 12 years old.

M: Any advice for young developers today?

J: Don’t go into the gaming industry just because you think it’ll be ‘fun’. It *can* be fun, but so can working on business systems! Choose a position based on the technology and the team members that you will work with, not the salary or the industry.

M: What is your dream job?

J: I would love to be able to write full-time. Whether it is books or blogs, I love to write.

M: What are you reading right now?

J: I am currently learning the Ionic2 framework. I am also working on three Swift books, including Mastering Swift 3, Mastering Swift 3 for Linux and Protocol Oriented Programming with Swift 2nd edition.

You can learn more about Jon and his work by visiting his two blogs: Mastering Swift Blog and his Robotics Blog.