iphone development: a newbie's inquiry

[vinchizel]

Hi everyone. I am very interested in developing apps for the iphone because it looks like an interesting hobby. but there's is one major problem; I have absolutely no prior knowledge to ANY type of program development. I am a complete newbie. I don't know any of the programming "lingo". And from what I have researched, this isn't going to be a cake walk for me. but I am determined to learn.

So my main question is WHERE DO I START? I have read several advices about starting with learning Objective C. Now, like I said, I don't even know what Objective C is. So can anyone give me tips on where to begin and how long would it take for me to understand atleast the majority of what it takes to begin developing apps??? you can tell me your honest opinion about how you think it's pointless for me to try because its too hard. so yeah, thank you all for your advice and your opinions.

 

[PoitNarf]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0672325861

I just ordered that book based upon recommendations from others here, looks like a good start. Don't assume that this stuff is impossible, because then you've already surrendered to it. Once you learn the basics of programming most of the other stuff starts falling into place. As long as you make the time investment and are truly willing to learn then you'll be surprised how much and how quickly you will learn. The iPhone programming forum here at macrumors also seems to have lots of useful info: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/135/

 

[Mikey B]

The book that PointNarf recommended is definitely the place to start learning about Objective-C, the language used to program the iPhone.

Also, if you are in the developer program, Apple has tons of great documentation about coding for the iPhone, including a couple of primers for Obj-C.

Finally, once you have your feet wet, I would pick up a copy of Erica Sadun's book, The iPhone Devloper's Cookbook and Beginning iPhone Develpment from Apress.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[9822679]

how old are you ?

I would recommend taking introductory programing classes if you are a student

 

[kdarling]

In the old home computer days, people learned in BASIC.

If you've never programmed before, then I would suggest starting with a simpler interpreted language... such as Javascript.

It's easy to edit local files, try them out in a browser, and get instant feedback. Your learning rate will be much faster than with an edit-compile-run-on-emulator sequence.

As a side benefit, it'll prepare you to write web-based Safari apps... and even on-device Palm Pre apps.

 

[vinchizel]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0672325861

I just ordered that book based upon recommendations from others here, looks like a good start. Don't assume that this stuff is impossible, because then you've already surrendered to it. Once you learn the basics of programming most of the other stuff starts falling into place. As long as you make the time investment and are truly willing to learn then you'll be surprised how much and how quickly you will learn. The iPhone programming forum here at macrumors also seems to have lots of useful info: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/135/

Thanks for the recommendations. I have done my research on which books to begin reading and the one you suggested was one of them. And don't worry, I didnt surrender to anything. I just wanted people to be brutally honest with me so that I wouldn't waste my time if it did require extensive learning.

 

[vinchizel]

how old are you ?

I would recommend taking introductory programing classes if you are a student

I'm 23 yrs old currently going to school for nursing. So yeah, as you can see, program development is completely not relevant to my major. But that doesn't mean I can't learn. Thanks for the suggestion. I probably will look into programming classes in my school.