OSX Internals

Filed under: Features, How-tos, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

It has been a while since the last iPhone Dev 101 post (and I must apologize for that — sometime life can get in the way of different things, and this was one of those times). In this Dev 101 post, I want to take you through a few of my favorite resources for Cocoa/iPhone development. Some of these resources are books, while others are sites, but all of the resources are valuable to up and coming developers (and experiences developers) alike.

Books
Some books are just invaluable and couldn’t be replaced with another. Aaron Hillegass’ Cocoa Programming for Mac is just that book. Currently in it’s 3rd edition, the book gives you much of the Cocoa programming information that you need to program for both the Mac and iPhone. There are only a few subtle differences in programming for these platforms, namely the use of the Cocoa Touch. If you ever have the chance, going to one of the Big Nerd Ranch Cocoa programming classes gives you the ability to learn Cocoa hands-on.

Another title that is useful to beginning iPhone developers is the Beginning iPhone Development book. This book has a useful approach to stepping into the world that is programming on iPhone. It talks about numerous topics including UI design, Quartz, and OpenGL. Also covered in the book are APIs like CoreLocation and interfacing with the camera.

If you already know Cocoa and a little about iPhone development, Erica Sadun’s iPhone Developer Cookbook is a great jumping off point to start development. She assumes, however, that you already understand Cocoa.

Continue reading to learn about more valuable books, websites, and resources for iPhone/Mac developers.

Continue reading iPhone Dev 101: Useful Cocoa Development Resources

TUAWiPhone Dev 101: Useful Cocoa Development Resources originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).) Original Link: iPhone Dev 101: Useful Cocoa Development Resources

Core Animation for Mac OS X and the iPhone: “I think this book excellent at explaining the concepts and taking you from novice to understanding and applying Core Animation techniques in your next application. If you are new to Cocoa and the Mac then I would not recommend this be the first book you read, but for anyone who is serious about Cocoa development, then this book should be on your bookshelf.“

(Via Mac Developer Network.)

TUAW Bookshelf: iPhone in Action: “

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, iPod touch, TUAW Bookshelf

I’ve never found book reviews to be terribly helpful — technical book reviews even less so, as how one learns differs from person to person. Some iPhone devs out there learned simply by poring over Apple’s copious documentation. Others have been poking at the iPhone’s innards since pre-SDK days, learning as they went from forums and good old hacking. But once the NDA lifted, the floodgates of iPhone dev books opened.

Each book and each publisher has a different angle both in content and presentation. Each book may appeal to different people and different learning styles with different backgrounds (not to mention the numerous sites, blogs and video resources out there beyond what Apple provides). Over the course of 2009 we’ll be taking a look at some books in a new series called TUAW Bookshelf. We won’t just be covering developer resources, either. There’s a wide world of Apple-related reading out there, so stay tuned as we pull from our personal libraries and share our thoughts on what’s available.

To kick things off I read iPhone in Action by Christopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline, published by Manning. I wound up reading this first because one of the authors threw a few copies at me while at Macworld (sorry, I don’t know who you are and I can’t seem to find your business card!). We’ve got a few to give away, but look for that in another post this month.

iPhone in Action is designed to be a soup-to-nuts intro to almost everything you can develop for the iPhone. This includes web apps, which was the book’s main focus until the SDK was announced while they were writing. I don’t think shifting focus to the SDK is a bad thing, and as near as I can tell it didn’t hurt the content. In fact, I thought this book would make an excellent primer to Apple’s mobile platform efforts. Having taught technology for six years, I can say this is the book I’d use for a 100-level course in developing for the iPhone. I’m not saying it will make you into an expert overnight, and I’m not saying you can’t come to the table with zero dev experience, but as a starting point, it is wonderful. To find out why, keep reading…

Continue reading TUAW Bookshelf: iPhone in Action

TUAWTUAW Bookshelf: iPhone in Action originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)