Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK

Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK Features

Additional Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK Information

Please note that there is now an iPhone 3 edition of this title available!

Are you a programmer looking for a new challenge? Does the thought of building your very own iPhone app make your heart race and your pulse quicken? If so, then Beginning iPhone Development is just the book for you.

Assuming only a minimal working knowledge of Objective-C, and written in a friendly, easy-to-follow style, Beginning iPhone Development offers a complete soup-to-nuts course in iPhone and iPod Touch programming.

The book starts with the basics, walking you through the process of downloading and installing Apple's free iPhone SDK, then stepping you though the creation of your first simple iPhone application. You'll move on from there, mastering all the iPhone interface elements that you've come to know and love, such as buttons, switches, pickers, toolbars, sliders, etc.

You'll master a variety of design patterns, from the simplest single view to complex hierarchical drill-downs. You'll master the art of table-building and learn how to save your data using the iPhone file system. You'll also learn how to save and retrieve your data using SQLite, iPhone's built-in database management system.

You'll learn how to draw using Quartz 2D and OpenGL ES. You'll add MultiTouch Gestural Support (pinches and swipes) to your applications, and work with the Camera, Photo Library, and Accelerometer. You'll master application preferences, learn how to localize your apps into other languages, and so much more.

Apple's iPhone SDK, this book, and your imagination are all you'll need to start building your very own best-selling iPhone applications.

You can discover more about this book, download source code, and find support forums at the book's companion site: www.iphonedevbook.com

"People ask me again and again about how to get started in iPhone development, but I never had a very good answer for them until now. Dave and Jeff's book starts at the beginning in clear English, making sure you understand the fundamentals with many large illustrations. From there, they progress into key concepts such as the MVC pattern and ImageBuilder fundamentals. Additionally, I find myself flipping back to it as a reference guide—the plethora of code samples make it a must-have."

—Steve Demeter, Creator of "Trism" and owner of Demiforce LLC

"Beginning iPhone Development delivers a clear picture of the entire development process from registering as an iPhone developer through creation of complete applications. There is a wealth of examples illustrating each feature of the iPhone. The authors did an excellent job of demonstrating "best practice" coding methodology throughout the book. You would be hard pressed to find a better guide to creating software for the iPhone."

—Aaron Basil, iDev2.com

"Dave Mark has always been the king of Mac programming authors, and now he's proven to be the reigning king for books on iPhone development!

"Beginning iPhone Development is the definitive guide for iPhone development, and anyone aspiring to develop for the iPhone should get this invaluable reference."

—Brian Greenstone, President & CEO, Pangea Software, Inc.

"Jeff and Dave have done an exceptional job exploring the iPhone SDK. This book is far and away the single best resource for iPhone SDK development. Developers will latch on to this book and find it useful as they create the next great iPhone application. If you're a developer with an interest in this amazing new platform, this is a must buy."

—Chris Stewart, Founder, iPhoneDevSDK.com

"If you're planning on coding for the iPhone, start here. Dave and Jeff know their stuff and also know how to explain it. I was amazed how much stuff they cover, from Hello World through analyzing user gestures. Not only do they cover the fun stuff like playing with the camera, they cover real-world development issues like localization. I learned a huge amount from them"

—Mark Dalrymple, Co-founder, CocoaHeads, and Principal Author, Advanced Mac OS X Programming

"Starting with an overview of the technology, how to approach the device, the authors lead us straight into the heart of iPhone development. As you progress, you'll learn more about various layout engines and view managers, as well as the more meaty topics like accelerometer and GPS APIs. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in getting started quickly and efficiently with iPhone development!"

—Chris Pelsor, Manager, Tarantell:Hybrid

"All in all I was very surprised and pleased with the book. I've had the fortune of reading many technical books, and few do a great job of walking someone through the basics without making them feel like a dolt. It felt like every time I was stuck or unsure there was a tip, hint or paragraph which explained what was going on."

—Cory Foy, at Slashdot.org

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!

What Customers Say About Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK:

The code matches the text. There are a few core books that I consider must-read / must-do books for starting iPhone developers. The instructions are complete, with illustrations where important. This is one of them. The text is clear and accurate. The training scales from beginning to end; as you learn things, less will be repeated relating to older lessons.Make no mistake, if you are new to iPhone technology and design patterns, this IS the place to start.The other must-read text is "Cocoa Design Patterns". This is especially true if you are coming from other programming languages and/or frameworks.

I'm looking for a useful book - perhaps must the Apple tutorial will be better. I'm new to Objective C but have 20+ years of software engineering behind me and I can say that Objective-C is very archaic - very 1980's technology.

The code in this book DOES NOT WORK. Don't waste your time on this book.

Every single class seems to be different. The code style is amateur and memory management is incorrect as far as I can tell.

I've downloaded their sample code and it is DRASTICALLY different from the code listed in the book. This book will not help decipher it.

I was going through the "Head Start" book and it seemed very convoluted and not well put together, after the first chapter or two of this book everything seemed to click. This book is great, just enough to get you up to speed but not too much that you get lost. I am new to iPhone development, been a MS developer for over 15 years, mostly in the MS/.NET world, no C/C++ experience. If you are a developer moving from the MS world to that of Objective C I would definitely recommend this book. Coming from the.NET MS world and the awesome tools they have, the Xcode environment was a little frustrating at first and I felt like I was thrown back 15 years. But it does force good practices and the book enforces that with well thought out examples and explanations as to why you are doing what you are. NOTE: There is a forum dedicated to this book and it is VERY INACTIVE, even by the authors. So if you have a question you are basically on your own.

Example - it will take you forever to wrap your head around Interface builder.- Poorly organized material. You'll have to go to the Apple site to find a much more concise explanation.- Annoying and belittling writing style. My main complaints are as follows:- Gloss over many important topics. This book should not be considered a stand alone resource that will get you started with iphone development. We'll do the same and meet you back here"The book does present some useful information and I would not want to get into iphone work by exclusively reading online material. The authors are constantly caught up describing their example application instead of talking about how Navigation controllers work.

- The Chapter on Navigation Controllers is terribly confusing.

To get the complete picture you'll find yourself jumping all over the place trying to put the puzzle together.

But it's just too much.

You will find yourself constantly going online to Apple's documentation to try and get to the bottom of what the authors are talking about.

I appreciate that programming books are dry, and the authors adopt a very informal writing style to accommodate.

Example: Chapter 4 is titled "More Interface Fun".

Chapter 3 is less interface fun.

Examples (not exact, recalling from memory):"Take a deep breath and turn the page""Pat yourself on the back for being such an awesome student""Add the following code then come on back and gossip with us, 'K.""Take a break and have some Fresca and Raisins.

However if there are other books available I would give them serious consideration.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to develop iPhone applications and sell them on the iTunes store. I went through the book while developing an application and found it extremely useful and well written. I spent 3 months with the book, along with developing my app, and in early January had my application approved for sale on the iTunes store.