What is app development?
Quick answer
App development is building software people can actually use, covering interface design, logic, data storage and the testing that happens before anyone else touches it.
Students ship a working app to real users within a term and iterate on the feedback they get back.
In context
It is where design and engineering meet, and where students discover that the interface is most of the work.
Shipping something to a real user, even a classmate, changes the standard students hold themselves to.
In a NASCA classroom
Students ship a working app to real users within a term and iterate on the feedback they get back.
Related terms
Coding
Coding is writing instructions a computer can execute, typically starting with block-based tools in primary school and moving to text languages such as Python by middle school.
Design thinking
Design thinking is a structured way to solve problems for real people: understand them, define the problem sharply, generate options, build a rough prototype and test it with users.
Python
Python is a general-purpose programming language with readable syntax and the largest ecosystem of data science and AI libraries, which makes it the standard first text language in schools.