Kakao's 2023 New Hire iOS Onboarding Retrospective: A 6-Week Learning Journey with Yagom Academy

Kakao's 2023 new hire iOS recruits reviewed their 6-week technical onboarding program, detailing the learning structure and project experiences led by Yagom, the leader of Yagom Academy. The onboarding was conducted online and consisted of two live sessions per week, activity-based learning, and four practical projects.

Onboarding Program Structure

The program started with Swift basics and progressed to learning iOS frameworks and view components, gradually increasing in difficulty. Live sessions were not simple knowledge transfers but were operated in a way that established concepts through pre-study, discussions, and questions. In activity-based learning, participants formed pairs to complete missions and shared results to enhance understanding.

Projects were conducted step by step, involving a process of refinement based on code reviews. The key projects were as follows:

• Grade Management: A contact management console app for experiencing Git usage and TDD (Test-Driven Development)
• Login-Profile: A KakaoTalk UI simulation app for applying MVC architecture, Life Cycle, and HIG
• World Expo: Learning Accessibility, Dynamic Type, and Auto Layout
• Box Office: A REST API integration app for designing network models and applying Modern Collection View

Technical Considerations: Network-Independent Testing

In the Box Office project, the URLProtocol abstract class was utilized to perform tests without actual server communication. By replacing the existing URLSession communication flow with MockURLProtocol to inject dummy data, fast and stable tests independent of network environments or server states were implemented.

Learning Culture and Growth

Self-directed learning and pair programming were core elements during the onboarding period. Pair programming involved splitting roles into Navigator and Driver to write code, contributing to improved code comprehension and communication skills beyond initial awkwardness. This process aligns with Kakao's value of 'immersed and proactive work' and served as a foundation for proactive developer growth in the workplace.