iPhone Application Development For Dummies by Neal Goldstein

Go from Newbie to Novice Quicklyby csrdesignelements

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June 29, 2009: This book is a great read for someone either new to Objective-C or Iphone SDK. I could not rap my head around Object oriented programming and found the book to be the golden key that's unlocked a world of unlimited possibilities. The author has taken great time and care to bridge any gaps in the understanding of programming for the Iphone. I look forward to a future book if this author is involved.

I Also Recommend: Beginning iPhone Development.

I pulled my hair out trying to figure out how to write an App -until this book.by fslcaptain737

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May 25, 2009: It drove me absolutely crazy like you don't -or maybe you do- know. I'm sitting there at two in the morning and reading the twentieth article on writing apps, I bought a book on it, I had the apple guide -none of it helped. It might as well have been in Japanese.

Then THIS BOOK, by total chance, came across my way. Hallelujah.

Unlike other books and 'helpful' resources, this author takes you step by step and shows you want to do. He explains a concept well enough that you have a rudimentary idea as to how it functions in your mind, and then SHOWS you how it works in practice so that your understanding is solidified. You will never have him tell you open your "nib file" in the such and such through the abc delegate in some window you've never heard of without him showing you exactly how.

The material is organized, clear, and done progressively in a way that builds you up instead of making you tear your hair out. If you're someone as frustrated as I am (was) with app development, I highly recommend this book. Other books are good, I'm sure, but this is definitely the one you want to start with to get your feet wet.

Some recommendations:

1)Really take the time to digest some of the jargon he gives you. Yes, he does give you some. Not overwhelming, what-is-he-talking-about amounts, but you can't let it get out of hand. You may be able to get by for a few chapters not really knowing what they mean because he does a good job of showing you, but once you get to Chapter 8 the explanations he gives of what he's doing line by line will necessitate that you know what objects, methods, protocols, delegates, etc are. Know them. As such, I would recommend that you do them as you go along. Once you get to Chapter 7, do a review of the chapters before it because Chapter 8 is where things really get dicey.

2)Really, really, really REALLY watch your typing. One missing 't' in my 'texField' (Note that it's not 'text' field but 'tex' field) ruined four hours and the Cavaliers-Magic game for me. I tore my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong -I had followed the instructions perfectly! Or so I thought. Seriously, though. Make sure that if it says something, you get it EXACTLY right or you will be miserable. Trying to fix it makes it only worse, somehow. You have 2 errors, 'fix it' and then suddenly you have 18. Save yourself the misery and type it letter by letter while looking at the keyboard if you have to.

I've been working on this book for 2 days and have been able to write basic apps. A few more days and I'm going to start working on the one I've designed for the app store! Can't wait =)

Hope this helped!