iOS Old programming books

[eurekor]

Hi All

I have inherited about 20x of old programming books from iOS 4 - 5 era. Are they still usable for learning & studying programming for current iOS 8?

Or have things changed too much from that time, and these books are no use?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Barna Biro]

I'm not saying they're completely useless, but if iOS development is the goal, then I see no point in learning how to use a version that is quite a few years old and no longer used. In a worst case scenario, get some iOS 7 books... I'd not go any older than that. Ideally, you'd want to pick up iOS 8 and maybe even their new programming language called Swift ( Objective-C is still a very valid choice and there are plenty of articles / examples using it, but Swift is gaining ground... it will eventually be the default language of choice; that might be in 5 years from now, maybe more, but that's where Apple is heading to ).

 

[grandM]

Hi All

I have inherited about 20x of old programming books from iOS 4 - 5 era. Are they still usable for learning & studying programming for current iOS 8?

Or have things changed too much from that time, and these books are no use?

Thanks in advance.

cost of learning the old and transitioning is much higher than buying the newest books...

 

[eurekor]

Thank you for your info and advice. So these iPhone programming books must have all past their sell by date. Better buying new books I guess. It's such a pity because they are all like NEW, and thick books. Maybe this is just the way it is with all computer books apart from C programming books?

 

[subsonix]

Thank you for your info and advice. So these iPhone programming books must have all past their sell by date. Better buying new books I guess. It's such a pity because they are all like NEW, and thick books. Maybe this is just the way it is with all computer books apart from C programming books?

Since you inherited them, keep them around as references. It's hard to tell how specific they are to iOS versions from the general description: 20x programming books. It may be that you will find that they have information that is relevant to current iOS development as well.

 

[AxoNeuron]

iOS development changes a lot every year. Automatic reference counting being one example of a large difference. I would suggest investing in a more recent book or course.

 

[Barna Biro]

Worth keeping in mind: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/12/09/ios-8-on-63-percent-of-ios-devices/

 

[eurekor]

Thank you for your info all very useful.

So I will just keep them in the cupboard just in case I might need them or they might come handy some day.

The most of them are programming for iPhone 3 & 4 which is ancient, and iOS 4 and 5. It covers games programming or just programming in general.

But I gather now there is a new language called SWIFT.

Maybe I have to invest on new book, if I go for full time programming.

I was not sure if I had to just throw those old iPhone programming books, as they take up a lot of space in the house.

 

[firewood]

Some stuff changes. Some doesn't.

It still helps to learn about and know manual memory management when you get stuck debugging a gnarly ARC leak or performance issue.

It still helps to know how to build UI in code or interface builder when storyboards and auto-layout won't do what you want in any simple manner.

All advanced Swift programmers will also know Objective C really well for the next year or three. So learn it or hibernate.

So those old books are still useful for reference. But you'll also need some new ones to build current apps.

 

[eurekor]

Great advice firewood. Thank you.