iOS Beginning with Objective C programming?

[Fugue]

Hey guys.

I won't bore you with the details, but I decided that I wanted to create some iOS applications. That was a week ago. Since then, I have scoured the web for tutorials, books, and other materials to begin to development.

The first thing I learned was that Objective C is the language I will be learning. After another hour of searching I came to the conclusion that the best book would be the Big Nerd Ranch Guide to Objective C Programming. I gave it a try and so far I am about 1/3 of the way through and very much lost. It's not that the book is boring, it's that it doesn't go into detail explaining what each statement means (it tells us what %i or %e mean only after we have been using them for dozens or so pages).

My frustrations are probably due to having almost no programming background except for a little Javascript and HTML that I learned back in an Introductory CS class. Which prompts the question.

Should I start with a simpler language before delving into Obj C? Or should I try another book and take it step by step?

Any feedback on how you learned Objective C would be appreciated. Books, websites, tutorials - anything would be helpful.

 

[throAU]

1. Download Xcode, and sign up for a free developer account to get access to the apple developer videos.

Watch a few of them.
Download the objective-c language book
Hit itunes-U and look for the Stanford Objective-C course material by Paul Hegarty
(All of the above is 100% free)

Buy a book, there's bunch of them out there, i found "Learning Objective-C on the Mac" by Apress to be decent.

Objc is quite different to javascript and will seem quite wierd until it "clicks".

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

You should spend at least 1-3 weeks learning some C before you tackle Objective-C, I think. C code can be mixed in wherever you'd like in Obj-C.

Here's a free set of lessons on C online. I suggest finishing everything up to "Exercise 14: Writing and Using Functions" at a minimum. Learning the rest will be helpful, but isn't necessary for moving onto Obj-C / writing apps for iOS.

Edit: Ha... I was tired when I answered last night and forgot to give you the link:
http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/

 

[larswik]

When I got lost learning Objective C I stepped back to C. When I got C I then stepped back in to Objective C.

When you learn C don't just read the book and move on. Write some C programs (This was the advice I got here couple years ago).

I found the hardest thing to do was not learn the language, but how do I use it? When you finish a C book say to yourself "Now I am going to make a Hangman Game, blackjack or other program". How would I start that? What it the first step?

When you grasp and use the code, problem solving becomes much easier and you can answer those questions.

 

[PriapusZA]

Like you I am also learning to program and write apps for iOS.

I started off trying to learn Obecj-C - but got lost very quickly. As Larswik has suggested, I went and read a book called, "Learn C on Mac - 4th edition"

 

[robvas]

Robert Clair's Objective-C book is pretty good and has a C tutorial at the beginning.

http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Objective-C-2-0-Hands-On-Developers/dp/0321711386

Another good one to get is the C Pocket Reference

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596004361.do

 

[Fugue]

I appreciate the advice, thanks all.

I plan to take a look at all of the above books, the Stanford videos, and Apple's own C tutorials.

Just wondering, is it harder to make a good looking application (something like a stock or rss app) or a simple yet beautiful game? Which requires more work overall?

 

[PriapusZA]

Making a game would be far, far harder than a simple app.