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iOS Newbie resources :)

C

cr0fty

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2012
13
0
North West, UK
Hi all.

First post here so I thought I would start with this.

I'm soon to be the proud owner of a 13" MacBook Air :) (Excited much!). Never had a Mac before but once it arrives I'm hoping to learn the programming side of things. Now I did Java at University but that was 10 years ago so I am going to be a bit rusty.

The Air isn't going to arrive for another month so I am looking around, trying to find a decent book to read to get me started along the iOS development path.

In the FAQ section it recommends this book Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X Is there much difference between this one (3rd Edition) and the new 4th edition; apart from the newer one being cheaper?

Also if anyone can recommend any other books/eBooks that they feel may be better for me then please, feel free.

Cheers,
Cr0fty
 
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Two books for now. Steven Kochan "ProgrammIng in Objective-C 4th edition", and "iOS developing the Big Nerd Ranch". These will get you started. Everyone learns at at different pace/style, but I started by reading into chapter 5 in Mr. Kochan's book, and then alternated between each chapter-by chapter. Big Nerd Ranch is a "fun" book and "programming in objective-c is an essential book to learning the language. If you take the time to read and understand Steven's book, then it all falls into place! Do what they say and just trust the authors and write/de-bug code to correct errors. I'm still in the early stages myself, but definitely just write, write and more writing! Did I mention writing code. Write code. Write code. Even if you don't understand what your writing. Then de-bug. Oh and by the way....... Write code!
 
CheesePuff said:
why is it taking a month for your macbook air to arrive?
Click to expand...

I'm getting it through a scheme at my girlfriends work, they take the payments out of her wage each month before tax so it works out cheaper. It's going to take that long for them to process the paperwork etc and get it delivered
 
littfam said:
Two books for now. Steven Kochan "ProgrammIng in Objective-C 4th edition", and "iOS developing the Big Nerd Ranch". These will get you started. Everyone learns at at different pace/style, but I started by reading into chapter 5 in Mr. Kochan's book, and then alternated between each chapter-by chapter. Big Nerd Ranch is a "fun" book and "programming in objective-c is an essential book to learning the language. If you take the time to read and understand Steven's book, then it all falls into place! Do what they say and just trust the authors and write/de-bug code to correct errors. I'm still in the early stages myself, but definitely just write, write and more writing! Did I mention writing code. Write code. Write code. Even if you don't understand what your writing. Then de-bug. Oh and by the way....... Write code!
Click to expand...

I started with this combo of books and still refer to both of them all the time.
 
Awesome guys. Thanks. If I just wants the one book to get me started I presume the objective c one would be the one to get
 
I've just looked at the books on Amazonia and its cheaper to order them from the US website and pay international shipping than it would be to buy them from the UK with free shipping
 
cr0fty said:
Awesome guys. Thanks. If I just wants the one book to get me started I presume the objective c one would be the one to get
Click to expand...

Yes, you definitely will want to start with that one. The author does a great job guiding those new to objective-c. The other book assumes some prior knowledge of the language.
 
I am reading the Big Nerd Ranch on Object C.

Very, very good.

The author takes you through some C first - and what is required to know before going into Object C - he then starts of with Object C as if it was a new language.

I certainly recommend it. :cool:
 
firewood said:
Objective C is the programming language, and Cocoa includes all the subroutines, methods and other OS APIs required to do anything useful in the language.
Click to expand...

Ah cool thanks. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Is Xcode free or do you have to purchase it? Also will this do all the testing, debugging & compiling for me or will I require additional software?
 
cr0fty said:
Ah cool thanks. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Is Xcode free or do you have to purchase it? Also will this do all the testing, debugging & compiling for me or will I require additional software?
Click to expand...

Xcode can compile, debug and test all at the click of a button :)
 
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