iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual

Chapter 2. The Power of Brackets

You've now seen how easy it is to build an iPhone app: It's not rocket science. Or is it?

Apple has done an excellent job of creating the tools you use for building iPhone applications, but if you're going to become a master craftsperson, you need to learn more about these new tools. The first section of this chapter will get you started in this exploration: You're going to take a look the basics of the Objective-C language used to create apps.

Also, a thriving community of developers is working on the iPhone. You'll learn where to look for help with your coding questions, how to keep up with the ever evolving technologies used in the iPhone, and where to download free sample code to use in your own app development.

Note

There's a lot to learn in Objective-C. The book you're holding now would weigh several more pounds if the language were covered in depth. Instead, this chapter will cover the topics that you're most likely to encounter in iPhone development.

At the end of the chapter, you'll see some recommendations on where to look for additional information.

Once you've gotten up to speed with the essential parts of the language, you'll take a quick look at the documentation viewer that's built into Xcode. Knowing how to find information quickly and effectively will ease your entrée into this new platform.

Objective-C: The Nuts and Bolts for Your iPhone App

In this section, you'll explore the language used for programming iPhone applications: Objective-C. ...