Beginning iPhone Development? Where to start? Learn Objective-C

Welcome to my blog iPhoneFriend. My goal is to help new iPhone developers use their greatest asset: the Internet, to research methods, best practices and tutorials to expand their knowledge of iPhone development. While I have been creating my iPhone game I have found many great sources of documentation, examples and helpful advise that has helped me grow as both an iPhone as well as an all around developer.

From the beginning, let me state that I do not come from a strong C (vanilla, C# or C++) programming background. I do, however have a good deal of Java experience and with such high level scripting languages as Python, Perl and PHP.  Regardless of your specific background, ANY programming experience is precious. For those unfamiliar with any programming language I will not lie to you. You WILL have a long road ahead of you. For those without object oriented programming experience (i.e., C#, Java, Smalltalk) you will also have some catch-up to do on the topic.

Apple uses a language called Objective-C for developing on both the Mac and iOS (iPhone / iPad) platform. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objective-c. In short, Objective-C is an object-oriented language with roots in C, C++ and Smalltalk. I have found the learning curve to be considerable but once you get used to it it becomes very elegant with many powerful features.

One book I have found invaluable in my learning which can be consumed with the most basic of programming knowledge is Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (2nd Edition) by Stephen G. Kochan. This book is the one “must have book” for novices and experts alike. The author assumes no previous knowledge of programming in general and covers topics from beginner to advanced without ever sounding condescending. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK!

PRO TIP: This book also comes in Kindle format. I have this installed on my iPad and iPhone which provides my with this great reference from anywhere. Available here.

My first tutorials will setting up your computer to develop on the iPhone / iPad. In the meantime, go read Stephen’s book and check out Apple’s Developer site’s Objective-C primer.

How can you get started?? Easy.

1. Get a Mac. While there are some enterprising individuals who have been able to hack their PC’s enough to develop on a PC, you will require an Intel based Mac to develop for the iPhone. There is some discussion here but your legal and coding mileage may vary. We will only discuss developing on Mac hardware on this site.

2. Get xcode. Xcode is Apple’s integrated development environment (IDE) for developing Mac and iOS applications. It is a free download, although you must be a registered developer to submit application on iTunes. Get Xcode here. (Make sure you have some time. It is > 2.2Gb).

3. Get an Apple Developer ID. This is not required to code on Xcode and run iPhone applications on simulator, however if you plan to run your applications on your phone for testing (the only proper way to test) you will need to register for the Apple Developer Program http://developer.apple.com/programs/. For an individual this will cost $99 USD per year. This lets you run code on your device(s), submit tot he app store, gives you access to the developer forums and gives beta access to new SDKs as they become available.

4. Patience. I admit, I almost gave up more than once. The fact is there is a lot to learn but once you have built up a small collection of forums, tutorials and reference material there is almost nothing that cannot be accomplished. If you get frustrated, take a break. I try to read a little documentation every day to limit the number of roadblocks I will encounter. The true answer is that no one has all the answers. It’s more important to know where you can go when you need an answer.

Thanks for reading. More to come.

W