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What’s in This Book
Here is a brief overview of the remaining chapters in this book:
In Chapter 2, you’ll learn how to use Xcode’s partner in crime, Interface Builder, to create a simple interface, placing some text on the screen.
In Chapter 3, you’ll start interacting with the user, building a simple application that dynamically updates displayed text at runtime based on buttons the user presses.
Chapter 4 will build on Chapter 3 by introducing you to several more of iOS’s standard user interface controls. We’ll also demonstrate how to use alerts and action sheets to prompt users to make a decision or to inform them that something out of the ordinary has occurred.
In Chapter 5, we’ll look at handling autorotation and autosize attributes, the mechanisms that allow iOS applications to be used in both portrait and landscape modes.
In Chapter 6, we’ll move into more advanced user interfaces and explore creating applications that support multiple views. We’ll show you how to change which view is being shown to the user at runtime, which will greatly enhance the potential of your apps.
Tab bars and pickers are part of the standard iOS user interface. In Chapter 7, we’ll look at how to implement these interface elements.
In Chapter 8, we’ll cover table views, the primary way of providing lists of data to the user and the foundation of hierarchical navigation-based applications. You’ll also see how to let the user search in your application data.
One of the most common iOS application interfaces is the hierarchical list that lets you drill down to see more data or more details. In Chapter 9, you’ll learn what’s involved in implementing this standard type of interface.
iOS 5 brings a new way to design your apps called storyboards. Chapter 10 covers this great new feature.
The iPad, with its different form factor from the other iOS devices, requires a different approach to displaying a GUI and provides some components to help make that happen. In Chapter 11, we’ll show you how to use the iPad-specific parts of the SDK.
In Chapter 12, we’ll look at implementing application settings, which is iOS’s mechanism for letting users set their application-level preferences.
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Chapter 13 covers data management on iOS. We’ll talk about creating objects to hold application data and see how that data can be persisted to iOS’s file system. We’ll also discuss the basics of using Core Data, which allows you to save and retrieve data easily.
Another new feature of iOS 5 is iCloud, which allows your document to store data online and sync it between different instances of the application. Chapter 14 shows you how to get started with iCloud.
Since iOS 4, developers have access to a new approach to multithreaded development using Grand Central Dispatch, and also have the ability to make their apps run in the background in certain circumstances. In Chapter 15, we’ll show you how that’s done.
Everyone loves to draw, so we’ll look at doing some custom drawing in Chapter 16. We’ll use basic drawing functions in Quartz 2D and OpenGL ES.
The multitouch screen common to all iOS devices can accept a wide variety of gestural inputs from the user. In Chapter 17, you’ll learn all about detecting basic gestures, such as the pinch and swipe. We’ll also look at the process of defining new gestures and talk about when new gestures are appropriate.
iOS is capable of determining its latitude and longitude thanks to Core Location. In Chapter 18, we’ll build some code that makes use of Core Location to figure out where in the world your device is and use that information in our quest for world dominance.
In Chapter 19, we’ll look at interfacing with iOS’s accelerometer and gyroscope, which is how your device knows which way it’s being held and the speed and direction in which it is moving. We’ll explore some of the fun things your application can do with that information.
Nearly every iOS device has a camera and a library of pictures, both of which are available to your application, if you ask nicely! In Chapter 20, we’ll show you how to ask nicely.
iOS devices are currently available in more than 90 countries. In Chapter 21, we’ll show you how to write your applications in such a way that all parts can be easily translated into other languages. This helps expand the potential audience for your applications.
By the end of this book, you’ll have mastered the fundamental building blocks for creating iPhone and iPad applications. But where do you go from here? In Chapter 22, we’ll explore the logical next steps for you to take on your journey to master the iOS SDK.
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What’s New in This Update?
Since the first edition of this book hit the bookstores, the growth of the iOS development community has been phenomenal. The SDK has continually evolved, with Apple releasing a steady stream of SDK updates.
Well, we’ve been busy, too! The second we found out about iOS SDK 5, we immediately went to work, updating every single project to ensure not only that the code compiles using the latest version of Xcode and the SDK, but also that each one takes advantage of the latest and greatest features offered by Cocoa Touch. We made a ton of subtle changes throughout the book, and added a good amount of substantive changes as well, including two brand-new chapters: one on storyboarding and another on iCloud. And, of course, we reshot every screen shown in the book.
Are You Ready?
iOS is an incredible computing platform and an exciting new frontier for your development pleasure. Programming for iOS is going to be a new experience—different from working on any other platform. For everything that looks familiar, there will be something alien, but as you work through the book’s code, the concepts should all come together and start to make sense.
Keep in mind that the exercises in this book are not simply a checklist that, when completed, magically grants you iOS developer guru status. Make sure you understand what you did and why before moving on to the next project. Don’t be afraid to make changes to the code. Observing the results of your experimentation is one of the best ways you can wrap your head around the complexities of coding in an environment like Cocoa Touch.
That said, if you have your iOS SDK installed, turn the page. If not, get to it! Got it? Good. Then let’s go!
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