Learning iOS Development: A Hands-on Guide to the Fundamentals of iOS Programming (2014)

Foreword

It’s been an amazing five years since the first edition of the iPhone Developer’s Cookbook debuted for the new Apple iPhone SDK. Since then, new APIs and new hardware have made the task of keeping on top of iOS development better suited for a team than for an individual. By the time the iOS 5 edition of the Cookbook rolled around, the book was larger than a small baby elephant. We had to publish half of it in electronic form only. It was time for a change.

This year, my publishing team sensibly split the Cookbook material into several manageable print volumes. This volume is Learning iOS Development: A Hands-on Guide to the Fundamentals of iOS Programming. My coauthors, Maurice Sharp and Rod Strougo, moved much of the tutorial material that used to comprise the first several chapters of the Cookbook into its own volume and expanded that material into in-depth tutorials suitable for new iOS developers.

In this book, you’ll find all the fundamental how-to you need to learn iOS development from the ground up. From Objective-C to Xcode, debugging to deployment, Learning iOS Development teaches you how to get started with Apple’s development tool suite.

There are two other volumes in this series as well:

The Core iOS Developer’s Cookbook provides solutions for the heart of day-to-day development. It covers all the classes you need for creating iOS applications using standard APIs and interface elements. It offers the recipes you need for working with graphics, touches, and views to create mobile applications.

The Advanced iOS 6 Developer’s Cookbook focuses on common frameworks such as Store Kit, Game Kit, and Core Location. It helps you build applications that leverage these special-purpose libraries and move beyond the basics. This volume is for those who have a strong grasp of iOS development and are looking for practical how-to information for specialized areas.

It’s been a pleasure to work with Maurice and Rod on Learning iOS Development. They are technically sharp, experienced developers, and they’re genuinely nice guys. It’s difficult to hand over your tech baby to be cared for by someone else, and these two have put a lot of effort into turning the dream of Learning iOS Development into reality. Maurice, who wrote the bulk of this volume, brings a depth of personal experience and an Apple background to the table.

iOS has evolved hugely since the early days of iPhone, both in terms of APIs and developer tools. Learning iOS Development is for anyone new to the platform, offering a practical, well-explored path for picking up vital skills. From your first meeting with Objective-C to App Store deployment, Learning iOS Development covers the basics.

Welcome to iOS development. It’s an amazing and exciting place to be.

—Erica Sadun, April 2013