A couple of weeks ago I started down a long & twisty path, by reading about iPhone programming. I first bought the eBook to the right, but put off starting to read it until I had worked my way through a bit of a backlog.
In the meantime, I discovered the great iTunes U program from Stanford, teaching essentially the same topic. I worked my way through 3 classes and then realized I should be catching up with this book. Well, it looks like these two programs are complementary, so far. This book goes into some initial detail on how to set up a developer account and certificate with Apple, something that hadn’t been done in the iTunes U class so far. Even if they do end up doing this, I suspect that having a printed (or “E”) copy in front of me as I do the process would be beneficial.
Of course I have been able to code up a simple iOS calculator app in the process of following the iTunes U series. It wasn’t all that hard, but was useful for teaching me the intriguingly backward way that Objective-C works.
In the meantime, I also ordered the (very well-reviewed) book to the left, “Programming in Objective-C”. Of course, I only just realized that there is a new version with a “2.0” suffix on it, but I suppose having a firm grip on the foundations of the language can’t hurt, and I can look up the differences in the language update later.
It looks like the main differences seem to be garbage collection on Mac only, @properties and a few other things. The author himself says not to bother with the second book if you just got the first one.
I intend to read this book after the above one, and probably begin this when I’m about halfway through the videos. It should be fun!