I give an account of a Swift Playgrounds workshop for teachers, run by Matt Richards with support from Apple staff, which taught by having participants modify an existing app rather than starting from the basics. I relate that top-down approach to my own mix of structured courses (100 Days of SwiftUI, cs193p) and first-app building, noting it is engaging but that problems get complex quickly. I also touch on the value of having expert help on hand when self-teaching, and on borrowing ideas from the Playgrounds App Gallery’s example apps...
