November 30, 2025
Class is in session, comments in detention
Paul Hegarty's updated CS193p SwiftUI course released by Stanford
Free iOS class returns: nostalgia, Insta flex, and a spicy Stanford roast
TLDR: Stanford posted six new CS193p SwiftUI lectures, a free crash course in iPhone app basics. Comments split between starry-eyed nostalgia (one alum says his project “lightly influenced Instagram”) and a spicy critique of Stanford’s Big Tech pipeline, plus jokes about missing new AI tools and shiny “Liquid Glass” effects.
Stanford just dropped the first six lectures of Paul Hegarty’s CS193p SwiftUI class, and the comments lit up like Xcode at 2 a.m. Veterans are swooning over Hegarty’s wizardry — “He’s an excellent teacher!” — while newbies cheer, “Been waiting for this for ages!” The energy is equal parts fan club and study hall.
Then came the nostalgia bomb: one alum says the 2007 class gave students iPod Touches, and his final project “lightly influenced Instagram.” Cue the thread screaming “Insta origin story?” and a hundred chef’s-kiss emojis.
But the drama arrived on schedule. A snarky critic roasted Stanford’s pipeline-to-Big-Tech vibe — “Does the Stanford gift shop sell knee pads?” — demanding open standards over corporate lock-in. Meanwhile, some wondered why the shiny new Xcode 26 with built-in AI helpers and iOS 26’s “Liquid Glass” look aren’t in the videos. Answer: the course was recorded before those features, though the code still works.
For the curious: the lectures build a simple game called CodeBreaker, teaching how the app’s “brain” connects to the “screens,” plus basics like tapping and state. No official support, but plenty of course videos and community help. Meme of the day: “No Liquid Glass, just liquid coffee.”
Key Points
- •Stanford published the first six Spring 2025 CS193p SwiftUI lectures with materials.
- •The course predates iOS 26 and Xcode 26 but the code is mostly compatible with both.
- •Xcode 26’s built-in LLM assistance and iOS 26’s Liquid Glass are not covered in the videos.
- •Lectures teach Xcode/SwiftUI basics, Views, View modifiers, model–UI separation, and Swift type system.
- •Students build the CodeBreaker app, covering @State, Optionals, onTapGesture, and data flow between Views.