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Head First iPhone Development--New from O'Reilly: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Building a Killer iPhone App

November 5, 2009

Sebastopol, CA—Let's say you have an idea for a killer iPhone app. Where do you begin? Head First iPhone Development (O'Reilly Media, $44.99 USD) will help you get your first application up and running in no time.

You'll quickly learn to use iPhone SDK tools, including Interface Builder and Xcode, and master Objective-C programming principles that will make your app stand out. It's a complete learning experience for creating eye-catching, top-selling iPhone applications.

So what's different about Head First iPhone Development? Authors Dan and Tracey Pilone (@danpilone, @traceypilone) explain: "We focus on helping the learner understand the concepts behind the iPhone frameworks rather than just showing disconnected code snippets. There are lots of reference books out there that you can buy to tell you what methods to use to implement a picker, but there are not many that go through the pains that we do to teach the underlying patterns. There is a lot to understand, between the syntax of Objective-C, and working in the Xcode, Interface Builder, iPhone Simulator environment that comes with the SDK. We worked very hard to make that understanding paramount."

Head First iPhone Development will allow you to do the following:

  • Put Objective-C core concepts to work, including message passing, protocols, properties, and memory management
  • Take advantage of iPhone patterns such as datasources and delegates
  • Preview your applications in the iPhone Simulator
  • Build complicated interactions that utilize multiple views, data entry/editing, and iPhone rotation
  • Work with iPhone's camera, GPS, and accelerometer
  • Optimize, test, and distribute your application

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First iPhone Development provides a visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.

Advance Praise
"The great thing about this book is its simple, step-by-step approach. It doesn't try to teach everything--it just launches you right into building iPhone applications in a friendly, conversational way."
-Eric Shephard, owner of Syndicomm

"HF iphone was clearly crafted to get you easily creating, using and learning iPhone technologies without needing a lot of background with Macintosh development tools."
-Joe Heck, Seattle Xcoders founder

For a review copy or more information please email peyton@oreilly.com Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Dan Pilone, a Senior Software Architect with Blueprint Technologies, Inc., has designed and implemented systems for Hughes, ARINC, UPS, and the Naval Research Laboratory. He's written several books on software development, including UML 2.0 in a Nutshell (9780596007959) and UML 2.0 Pocket Reference (9780596102081).

Tracey Pilone is a freelance technical writer who has supported mission planning and RF analysis software for the Navy. She has a Civil Engineering degree from Virgina Tech and a Masters of Education from the University of Virginia.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596803544

Head First iPhone Development
Dan Pilone, Tracey Pilone
ISBN: 9780596803544, 550 pages,
Book Price: $44.99 USD, £34.50 GBP
Ebook Price: $35.99 USD

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