I have read 4/5 of their books. and 4 editions of the Big Nerd Ranch Android Development, 2 of the Big Nerd Ranch iOS Programming. I found those books exemplary with their quality and depth of the topics with which they taught. I would put the technical guides of similar quality to O’Reilly, and I want to say better than Pakt and I like Pakt.

I am sad to see this go. I read the first one of their books when I was less than a year in the industry.

If you're reading this, you'll be missed! Your books have got my SO and I started on our careers in mobile; they have just the right mix of code, background context, and chutzpah-- as compared to the 'picture books' that you might find in B&N these days. Thanks for everything; your voice will be missed.

Digging a little further into the Glassdoor reviews, it's likely that Stellar Elements acquired them for their client base and drove them into the ground due to poor management. Most of the BNR reviews rank positive, but the latest of them complain about the acquisition, and the Stellar Elements reviews have always ranked low.

I took a bootcamp with them many many years ago and have to agree it was one of the better training experiences. Best wishes on your next chapter.

I first learned to program with the Big Nerd Ranch book on Objective-C and book on iOS programming. The format and quality of these books made the learning process work for me. Since that early exposure, I’ve always had a deep respect and appreciation for the authors of those books. I spent some $50 on them, and received so, so much more.

To do this day, when my code composition is going well, it feels like I am completing one of the challenges at the end of a BNR chapter: thinking about the problem when I’m supposed to be doing something else, having my mind blown when the solution appears from an unexpected place, and realizing how far I can stretch my thinking processes and operating paradigms.

I assume they got nailed by the combination of covid travel restrictions followed by the pause in tech hirings/layoffs. Looks like at some point they got acquired, also have an arm that does custom design and app development; possibly that simply pays better.

The bicycle book and bootcamp with Aaron Hillegass, pre iPhone days, put me on the path to making shareware for MacOS X. That hobby morphed overnight into an iOS programming career when the platform opened up, which persists to this day. I still proudly drink from my Big Nerd Ranch (now vintage?!) mug and owe more than I can say to Aaron's teachings. It was through those works that programming finally clicked for me. Thank you, Big Nerd Ranch!

(Aaron, if you're reading these; do you recall a vegetarian attending bootcamp about 20 years ago and the cooks didn't know anything about how to prepare vegetarian food?)

Did I miss the why? Or was it not stated?

Closest I see is that “the landscape of tech education has evolved.” I agree but it would be interesting to hear more of their take.

I fondly remember the very first Mac OS X book by Aaron Hillegass. Which was pretty much the only 3rd party book back then, else there was only the Apple docs (which to part still were the NeXT docs).

I always wanted to do the in-person course back then (early 2000s), but never got around it (living in Europe, the whole thing would have been quite expensive).

Oh well, times long gone by, also for BNR it seems.

I did a podcast episode in part about a anthropologist embedding himself the big nerd ranch bootcamps.

The books were the way they were because the bootcamps were constantly testing them. And Aaron was orginally an internal trainer for NeXT and then cocoa.

Aaron and others there put a lot of thought into teaching methodology.

My favorite quote was in the preface “how to learn” of one of their Obj-C/Cocoa books.

TLDR: You are not stupid. This stuff is hard.

—- While learning something new, many students will think, "Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder it am stupid." Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.

Aaron used to have a boss named Rock. Rock had earned a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech and had never had a job that used his knowledge of the heavens.

He was once asked if he regretted getting the degree. "Actually, my degree in astrophysics has proved to be very valuable," he said. "Some things in this world are just hard. When I am struggling with something, I sometimes think Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid,' and then I remember that I have a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech; I must not be stupid."

Before going any further, assure yourself that you are not stupid and that some things are just hard. Armed with this silly affirmation and a well-rested mind, you are ready to conquer Cocoa.

One of my favorite classes (and I've taken a lot of classes and seminars), ever, was a BNR bootcamp, about 12 years ago.

They ran a good shop, but teaching is a tough gig.

I still have signed copies of some of their books that I got when I toured their offices a few years ago. They created a really good space for developers with private soundproofed offices for the extroverted sales types to yak on the phone without disturbing everyone else in the building, a large very quiet room with a library vibe where everyone had to STFU and a group room where everyone could talk.

Thank you for taking me by the hand and leading me to a career in software development.

Delivery estimate: May 17, 2012 1 "iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (3rd Edition) (Big Nerd Ranch Guides)" Conway, Joe; Paperback; $27.26 In Stock Sold by: Amazon.com

I have extremely fond memories of the ranch. It was what got Throttled Pro off the ground and was by far the best Objective-C resource I could have possibly imagined.

Aaron will forever be a hero in my book. Best of luck in the future.

Sad to see them gone. Are there any Swift/Swift UI 1–5 day Bootcamps anywhere in the world that can be recommended?

Well that was vague...