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Rasta4i

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2010
134
15
London
Hello I'm new to programming, I have no experience at all in programming. I've just started learning java for a module at university but I really want to learn how to write iPhone applications. Can anyone recommend any books that a beginner can read and actually follow?
 
Hello I'm new to programming, I have no experience at all in programming. I've just started learning java for a module at university but I really want to learn how to write iPhone applications. Can anyone recommend any books that a beginner can read and actually follow?

I suggest the Big Nerd Ranch Objective C book. It teaches you programming from the ground up using C and Objective C as the subject. The book has a light, humorous style and is pretty easy to follow.
 
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I suggest the Big Nerd Ranch Objective C book. It teaches you programming from the ground up using C and Objective C as the subject. The book has a light, humorous style and is pretty easy to follow.
I'm actually a few chapters into this book and am really liking it so far, especially the light style!

When the version I have (v1) was written, Xcode 4 was the standard, and now Xcode 5 is out, but that hasn't been a problem. The weirdest thing is that the debugger is different, so some of the output doesn't match the examples in the book, but they explained that in the beginning:

“(As I’m writing this, Apple is working on a new debugger called LLDB. Eventually it will replace GDB, the current debugger. If you aren’t seeing all the GDB information, it means that LLDB is now Xcode’s standard debugger. The future must be a terrific place; I envy you.)”

Looks like v2 of the book is out and updated for Xcode 5?

I bought this book the iBooks Store and it's been pretty nice having iBooks open on my laptop screen, and then having Xcode open on an external monitor.
 
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I'm actually a few chapters into this book and am really liking it so far, especially the light style!

When the version I have (v1) was written, Xcode 4 was the standard, and now Xcode 5 is out, but that hasn't been a problem. The weirdest thing is that the debugger is different, so some of the output doesn't match the examples in the book, but they explained that in the beginning:



Looks like v2 of the book is out and updated for Xcode 5?

I bought this book the iBooks Store and it's been pretty nice having iBooks open on my laptop screen, and then having Xcode open on an external monitor.

Thanks for the suggestion, I've been floating around the forum and heard good things about that book. As you said the latest version of the book was just released, I think that I'll buy it from ibooks. I have also heard good things about programming in Objective-C by Stephen G. Kochan, does anyone have any experience with this book? I'm considering buying both books to ensure I have the best chance to learn this language properly and quickly, do you think it might be overkill? :D Better to have more than enough resources to understand than not enough right?:confused:
 
Two books at once can go either way. I think it might get confusing bouncing between the different styles, but if you run across something that doesn't make sense, you'd have another explanation you could quickly refer to.

Personally, I'd just go with one of the books at a time. If I got stuck on a subject, then I'd consider snagging the other. But no harm (other than being out the cost of both books) from doing them both at once. :)
 
Kochan is a bit more verbose, complete, hand-holdy, explicit than the BNR book.

It's really a question of which style works best for you.

B
 
I suggest the Big Nerd Ranch Objective C book. It teaches you programming from the ground up using C and Objective C as the subject. The book has a light, humorous style and is pretty easy to follow.

I just got this, and it seems pretty good. They have an iOS Programming book that will be updated for iOS 7, coming in February. Big Nerd Ranch also has a forum on their site where you can get help.
 
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I worked through the BNR Objective-C book and then iOS programming abut 12months ago, and I felt that it has given me a very very solid base in the language and programming aproach for iOS.

It was hard to work thtought it page by page and not jump ahead and just start making apps. It was well worth doing, as I now feel happy to just dive into the Apple Dev Documents and start using new objects, UIInterpolatingMotionEffect / UICollectionViewFlowLayout / UIDynamics in my apps.
 
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