macOS Is Kochan's Obj-C Book Still Relevant?

[kalimba]

Since it appears that the published date on Kochan's Objective-C book is December, 2003, I'm wondering how relevant the information would be for someone wanting to learn Objective-C 2.0. Would it be more useful just to use Apple's online documentation that actually covers the 2.0 aspects, or is Kochan's book still a good investment?

BTW, I know that the book is only $27 at Amazon, but the last thing I need is another programming language manual collecting dust on my bookshelf.

 

[fenrus110]

I've been learning XCode and Objective C since the first SDK release. I have mostly a Java background, and basic C/C++ skills. Objective-C looks nothing like C/C++. I would highly recommend getting the book just to read through Chapter 3 of the Kochan book to give you strong feel for the language.

 

[iSee]

It's the best book I've seen on the Objective-C language.
It is still relevant. But after you work through the first part of the book (chapters 1 through around 13 or whatever), go through Apple's docs on the new Objective-C 2.0 features.

Also, it's still useful to understand Objective-C memory management without garbage collection, even if you want to stick to Objective-C 2.0. You'll end of dealing with it one way or another before you get too far (iPhone development, most sample code, most turtotials, writing code for 10.4, etc.)

Edit: looks like the Obj-C 2.0 version of the book is due out in November: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-O...bs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214594533&sr=8-4
If you aren't in a hurry.

 

[kalimba]

Thanks for the advice, people. I just placed an Amazon order for the manual and should have it next Tuesday.