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Product Description
Product Description
Take your coding skills to the next level with this extensive guide to Objective–C, the native programming language for developing sophisticated software applications for Mac OS X. Objective–C is a powerful, object–oriented extension of C, making this book the perfect follow–up to Dave Mark’s bestselling Learn C on the Mac, Mac OS X Edition. Whether you’re an experienced C programmer or you’re coming from a different language such as C++ or Java, leading Mac experts Mark Dalrymple and Scott Knaster show you how to harness the powers of Objective–C in your applications!
- A complete course on the basics of Objective–C using Apple’s free Xcode tools
- An introduction to object–oriented programming
- Comprehensive coverage of inheritance, composition, object initialization, categories, protocols, memory management, and organizing source files
- A brief tour of Cocoa’s foundation framework and AppKit
- A helpful “learning curve” guide for non–C developers
What you’ll learn
- Learn Objective–C programming, the gateway to programming your Mac or iPhone
- Write applications for the Mac OS X interface, the cleanest user–interface around
- Understand variables and how to design your own data structures
- Work with the file system
- Connect to data sources and the Internet
Who this book is for
For anyone wanting to learn to program native applications in Mac OS X, including developers new to the Mac, developers new to Objective–C, or students entirely new to programming.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a well written and easy to digest introduction to Objective C, touching on all the main areas where the language extends traditional C. As a Java developer I must say that I was glad I had a background in C even though I hadn't written any in 13 years. If you only know Java, read up on C syntax before you start. This book assumes absolutely no previous knowledge of OOP, so Java (or other OO language) developers will find the theoretical discussion of OOP concepts redundant but their implementation details in Objective C very valuable.
There is only one chapter that introduces AppKit and UI development and the rest of the chapters contain only command line based examples. This, in my opinion, is a very good thing indeed. The AppKit chapter is enough to satisfy the curiosity and you make you feel that you could start a project using the Apple docs or another book. The command line examples in the rest of the book mean you can focus on the language itself rather than being distracted learning the details of a UI framework which really deserves it's own book to do it justice.
For someone completely new to Obj C and Mac/iPhone development, given the prerequisites mentioned above, you will feel ready to tackle your first in-depth Obj C/Cocoa project after reading this book.
There is only one chapter that introduces AppKit and UI development and the rest of the chapters contain only command line based examples. This, in my opinion, is a very good thing indeed. The AppKit chapter is enough to satisfy the curiosity and you make you feel that you could start a project using the Apple docs or another book. The command line examples in the rest of the book mean you can focus on the language itself rather than being distracted learning the details of a UI framework which really deserves it's own book to do it justice.
For someone completely new to Obj C and Mac/iPhone development, given the prerequisites mentioned above, you will feel ready to tackle your first in-depth Obj C/Cocoa project after reading this book.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ok, i found this book gave me a very good understanding of most of the areas that confuse programmers coming from other languages. Well written with some good examples. It is important to realize however, it is not for a complete programmer beginner. If you dont know what an iteration loop is, pointer and instance variables you probably want to start with something a bit simpler. Learning another c based language would be a good start.
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I started off buying Beginning iPhone Development from the same publishers, Apress, and that told me I needed to already be familiar with Objective-C. Although I ploughed through it, by the end I realised there were many basic concepts of the language I was missing, and going through all the examples hadn't done much by osmosis to get them into my head. So I bought this book, thinking as it was from the same publisher, it would be the missing part of the jigsaw I needed to understand Obj-C. But no, right up front in this book it says you should have experience with a C-like programming language. WTF? Above the title, the book claims 'Everything you need to know to become an Objective-C guru', when clearly you need to learn another language first, only to un-learn the bits that have changed in Obj-C. And guess what - yes, Apress have the 'Learn C on the Mac' book too (but perhaps that also has a prequel you need to read), and it looks like the one after this before you should start eyeing up that iPhone app you want to write is 'Learn Cocoa on the Mac'. Even with Amazon discount, you're up to £100 before you can even start to look at some of the advanced stuff Apress have planned. I'm beginning to think Apress are the publishing equivalent of the Landmark Forum. There's always one more course you have to take before you can achieve that breakthrough.
Learn Objective-C on the Mac is a good solution if you are coming at it from a C background, but that's not what it says on the tin. If you really want a complete introduction to Objective-C that doesn't assume you've already learnt something else, then a better option is Programming in Objective-C, second edition, by Stephen G. Kochan. A much larger volume, it's true, as it weighs in at 600 pages compared to the Apress book's 337, but it turns out there aren't shortcuts to this.
Learn Objective-C on the Mac is a good solution if you are coming at it from a C background, but that's not what it says on the tin. If you really want a complete introduction to Objective-C that doesn't assume you've already learnt something else, then a better option is Programming in Objective-C, second edition, by Stephen G. Kochan. A much larger volume, it's true, as it weighs in at 600 pages compared to the Apress book's 337, but it turns out there aren't shortcuts to this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Book does what it claims...
Bought this book so I could get up to speed with Objective C.
The book is quite comprehensive for those that have knowledge in C or C++ language, and it even has a... Read more
The book is quite comprehensive for those that have knowledge in C or C++ language, and it even has a... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Bubu
Adds to the series of Xcode development books by Apress
Good book and a key link in the series. The pace is a little slow at times, but this will help true beginners.
Published 22 months ago by A. Hasker
Well worth reading
Having read the "Learn C on the Mac" book from Apress, I enjoyed this one much more. It is very well written in a conversational style that explains difficult concepts in a very... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Video Boy
Fantastic book
I think this is a Fantastic Book. Clear, Easy to Read, even Entertaining.
Yes, you do need to be a Programmer experienced in something already, but it does state that. Read more
Yes, you do need to be a Programmer experienced in something already, but it does state that. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2010 by C. Rae-jayne Nauth-misir
Lack of hands on... more about how to OO programming, not objective C
I bought this at other peoples recommendations and it not what its advertised. If you have not done C before, dont waste your time. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2009 by Iain Bell
Great introductory book.
Having worked my way on some simple Objective-C, I decided that I needed a book to help me get a better grasp of the language. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2009 by K. Kontos
Covers Objective-C but can be hard to follow.
I really struggled with this book unlike the books in the series written by Dave Mark. I haven't dealt with OOP languages before, but I felt that the writers wanted to show how... Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by Eddy
Fantastic Objective-C resource
Having already made good use of the free Objective-C resources online [mainly from Apple] I wasn't sure if this book would be a worthwhile investment but I was completely wrong. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Ben Childs
An excellent introduction
This book is excellent if you want to get up to speed on Objective-C, and the quirks that entails. There is an assumption you know the basics of at least one other language first,... Read more
Published on 11 May 2009 by Boogle
A very well- writen, thorough and helpful introduction
This book is a very good and thorough introduction to the Objective- C 2.0 programming language, as used in Cocoa programming for Mac OS X and the iPhone. Read more
Published on 11 May 2009 by P. Papaioannou
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