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iOS Writing code for the iPhone. How?

M

MacDryCleaner

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 3, 2007
191
0
Hi All -

I want to write an iPhone app for my business (I'm a dry cleaner and I want to write something for in house inventory and for my delivery guys). The extent of my program writing is this:

10 Print "Hello"
20 Goto 10

So, my question is: How does a moron like me learn how to write code for the iPhone? Is there a certain direction anybody could push me into to learn about writing code? How hard is it really? I write a lot of my own Filemaker Pro databases and some of them are quite complex ... is there even any comparison to writing code?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

On a side note, is there a way for me to 'flag' particular discussion threads in this forum so I don't have to search around for them every time?

Have a great day everyone.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
You need to learn Cocoa programming, it's what the iPhone uses, and what the Mac uses. But if you haven't done any "real" programming, learn Cocoa for the Mac first as it'll be easier, then once you feel comfortable with that start playing with the iPhone SDK.
 
V

Vegeta-san

macrumors 6502
Aug 4, 2006
432
0
kainjow said:
You need to learn Cocoa programming, it's what the iPhone uses, and what the Mac uses. But if you haven't done any "real" programming, learn Cocoa for the Mac first as it'll be easier, then once you feel comfortable with that start playing with the iPhone SDK.
Click to expand...
Hey Kainjow. I basically had the same question as him. After reading your response, why do you think learning Cocoa for Mac will be easier? I mean, wouldn't that be twice the work since one would first have to learn Cocoa for the Mac then go back and learn Cocoa for the iPhone? And second, I know where all the iPhone software documentation is (on the Apple site) but where is the Cocoa for Mac documentation. Thanks so much.
 
waterskier2007

waterskier2007

macrumors 68000
Jun 19, 2007
1,871
228
Novi, MI
and yes to flag threads if you go to the thread and then in the thread tools, at the top of th thread, in the blue bar there will be a drop down option to subscribe to the thread and it will appear in your user cp when changes in the thread occur
 
A

admanimal

macrumors 68040
Apr 22, 2005
3,531
2
ChrisN said:
I am also new and I want to know what should I learn first cocoa or C?

Thanks,
ChrisN
Click to expand...

Cocoa is not a programming language, it is basically a set of frameworks that you use in your code. Trying to learn Cocoa without knowing how to program will be an exercise in frustration. You might as well start by learning C, since ultimately you will need to know Objective-C, which is a superset of C.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
Cromulent said:
Objective-C.

C is a different language.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider it a different language. Objective-C is a superset of C, so it supports all C features, but it has additional capabilities for working with objects.
 
B

barijazz

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2007
326
1
I'm in the same position, I'm trying to make an iphone app for my business. http://cocoadevcentral.com/ This website has helped me out so far (in the two days I've been using it). From what the keynote said the iphone uses basically the same language (cocoa) as the mac, except for the touch screen instead of keyboard less powerful etc.

GL
 
yeroen

yeroen

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2007
944
2
Cambridge, MA
You'll be better off contracting this out to some clever kid of college age..

Programming takes years to learn, or at least to learn properly.
 
craig1410

craig1410

macrumors 65816
Mar 22, 2007
1,129
905
Scotland
Hi,
As the previous poster just said, this is not a trivial undertaking and you should either consider contracting the job out.

However, this decision will depend on a number of factors, not least of which is how soon you need your application up and running. You need to balance the cost of not having the app for perhaps 12 months with the cost of contracting the job out to someone who could have it up and running in perhaps 1 month. Also consider if this is likely to be a one-off or if you expect to need further applications.

If you can live with 12 months of learning to program and/or think you might develop more than one app or if you simply can't afford to pay someone to do the work for you then don't be deterred - give it a go! Set yourself some realistic milestones (perhaps the first being "Hello World!" on an iPhone screen...) and keep evaluating whether to continue or cut losses and get someone to do it for you. At the very least you will know what you are talking about if you do hire a programmer and will be in a better position to justify the cost/benefit of the project. Make sure you get the source code for the app if someone else writes it, ideally as the project progresses (maybe weekly in exchange for partial payment?) in case it all goes pear-shaped and you need to get someone else involved. There are likely to be a large number of people out there just now who see iPhone development as a way to make a living but may not have the experience to carry it off yet. I'm a software consultant working for an IT company in the UK and have a 25 years of programming experience including mobile device development mainly in Java, C/C++ and VB and I must say I am tempted to give freelance iPhone development a try. However, I would not take on a commercial project like this until I had invested a good 2 or 3 months of my own time in getting my skills up to speed. It is a good way for me to justify buying an iPhone though... ;)

Good luck!
Craig.
 
Barbariska

Barbariska

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2007
62
14
Hello. I am in the same boat. I am working as a programmer, but I am working with mainframe and VB6, I know a little bit of C. Can anyone point me the good book that I might benefit from? Do I have to start with ObjC? Thanks.
 
B

barijazz

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2007
326
1
I'm not to cheap to pay someone to do it for me, but it is a very simple app I am trying to do and plan to do more in the future.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
Barbariska said:
Hello. I am in the same boat. I am working as a programmer, but I am working with mainframe and VB6, I know a little bit of C. Can anyone point me the good book that I might benefit from? Do I have to start with ObjC? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest downloading the SDK and reading the documentation. Apple discusses exactly what you need to know to write iPhone applications.
 
craig1410

craig1410

macrumors 65816
Mar 22, 2007
1,129
905
Scotland
Barbariska said:
Hello. I am in the same boat. I am working as a programmer, but I am working with mainframe and VB6, I know a little bit of C. Can anyone point me the good book that I might benefit from? Do I have to start with ObjC? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Speaking as someone who would love the answer to your question to be, "No" I'm afraid that the real answer is probably, "Yes". I don't want to learn ObjC as I have too many other languages rattling around in my head already but it seems from lurking around on these forums for a while now that ObjC & Cocoa is the best way to code for both the Mac and the iPhone. In fact it may be the only practical way to code for the iPhone at present although I'm not certain about that. I'd much rather use Java or Ruby and these are supported to some extent (eg. RubyCocoa, Java 5&6 and Sun Java for iPhone) but I still think that you will be up against it to compete with someone writing the same app in ObjC/Cocoa on either the Mac or the iPhone. If anyone disagrees I'd be delighted but also surprised...

The good news is that I gather that ObjC is a steep learning curve initially while learning the slightly odd syntax but is supposed to be very productive and robust afterwards. If the Mac marketshare continues to climb it might be a worthwhile skill to invest in. I'm certainly thinking carefully about giving it a go.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
Barbariska

Barbariska

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2007
62
14
kainjow said:
I'd suggest downloading the SDK and reading the documentation. Apple discusses exactly what you need to know to write iPhone applications.
Click to expand...

Thanks, kainjow. I already downloaded SDK and all the videos, so I'll jump into it and try to learn. Also another question is computer configuration that I need to start working with SDK, etc. I have IBOOK G4, Mac OS X, 1.2 GHz,1.25Gb. Do you think it is enough (hopefully not - then I will have an excuse to upgrade:cool:)
 
robbieduncan

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Barbariska said:
Thanks, kainjow. I already downloaded SDK and all the videos, so I'll jump into it and try to learn. Also another question is computer configuration that I need to start working with SDK, etc. I have IBOOK G4, Mac OS X, 1.2 GHz,1.25Gb. Do you think it is enough (hopefully not - then I will have an excuse to upgrade:cool:)
Click to expand...

The SDK is only supported on Intel based Macs. Yours is PowerPC based.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
craig1410 said:
The good news is that I gather that ObjC is a steep learning curve initially while learning the slightly odd syntax but is supposed to be very productive and robust afterwards.
Click to expand...

I don't know why people think Obj-C is so hard. If you know dot notation, you can pick up the bracket syntax easily.

Example 1:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.eatFood();

// Objective-C
[bear eatFood];

Example 2:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.attack(rabbit);

// Objective-C
[bear attack:rabbit];

Easy, eh? :)
 
D

dalvin200

macrumors 68040
Mar 24, 2006
3,473
69
Nottingham, UK
now you put it like that... yeah :)

i'm primarily a html/javascript now doing c#.

i managed to d/l the sdk but haven't had a chance to play around with it yet..

i plan to use the video tutorials on apple as a starting point and take it from there..

kainjow said:
I don't know why people think Obj-C is so hard. If you know dot notation, you can pick up the bracket syntax easily.

Example 1:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.eatFood();

// Objective-C
[bear eatFood];

Example 2:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.attack(rabbit);

// Objective-C
[bear attack:rabbit];

Easy, eh? :)
Click to expand...
 
tominated

tominated

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2006
1,723
0
Queensland, Australia
kainjow said:
I don't know why people think Obj-C is so hard. If you know dot notation, you can pick up the bracket syntax easily.

Example 1:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.eatFood();

// Objective-C
[bear eatFood];

Example 2:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.attack(rabbit);

// Objective-C
[bear attack:rabbit];

Easy, eh? :)
Click to expand...

It's not that, it's all of the other stuff like the fact that declarations and stuff have to be in a certain area as an example.

BTW: now that i think about it, that syntax looks a tad like what i saw of ruby a while back
 
MacDonaldsd

MacDonaldsd

macrumors 65816
Sep 8, 2005
1,005
0
London , UK
kainjow said:
I don't know why people think Obj-C is so hard. If you know dot notation, you can pick up the bracket syntax easily.

Example 1:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.eatFood();

// Objective-C
[bear eatFood];

Example 2:
Code: 
// C++/Java
bear.attack(rabbit);

// Objective-C
[bear attack:rabbit];

Easy, eh? :)
Click to expand...

I actually prefer Obj-c syntax, although its long winded it readable and understandable.

I have only played with Java, but from my short time using it I found that you end up with brackets all over the place making it hard to read.
 
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