We’ve been developing for the Cocoa framework from when the Mac first supported it.
Since then, we’ve seen the ecosystem of Cocoa and Objective-C development evolve
from a small programmer’s niche to one of the most important and influential development
environments in the world. (In fact, as 2012 closes, Objective-C is the third most
popular programming language according to the TIOBE index, up from fifth most
popular in 2011.)
Over the years, we’ve built a lot of large, complex iOS and OS X software, shipping it to
millions upon millions of users along the way. We’ve picked up a deep understanding
of the toolset, frameworks, and programming language, an understanding crucial to
building the best possible software for iOS and OS X. Apple constantly changes things,
as the recent introduction of the svelte iPad mini and the stretched iPhone 5 show, but
the knowledge necessary to bend the development tools, frameworks and languages to
your will stays fairly constant. This book will give you the knowledge, confidence, and
appreciation for iOS and OS X development with Cocoa, Cocoa Touch, and
Objective-C.
Get up to speed on Cocoa and Objective-C, and start developing applications on the iOS and OS X platforms. If you don’t have experience with Apple’s developer tools, no problem! From object-oriented programming to storing app data in iCloud, this book covers everything you need to build apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
You’ll learn how to work with the Xcode IDE, Objective-C’s Foundation library, and other developer tools such as Event Kit framework and Core Animation. Along the way, you’ll build example projects, including a simple Objective-C application, a custom view, a simple video player application, and an app that displays calendar events for the user.
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Learn the application life cycle on OS X and iOS
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Work with the user-interface system in Cocoa and Cocoa Touch
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Use AV Foundation to display video and audio
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Build apps that let users create, edit, and work with documents
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Store data locally with the file system, or on the network with iCloud
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Display lists or collections of data with table views and collection views
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Interact with the outside world with Core Location and Core Motion
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Use blocks and operation queues for multiprocessing
