Beginning iOS 4 Application Development [Paperback]

Wei-Meng Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0470918020 | ISBN-13: 978-0470918029 | Edition: 1

The ideal starting point for creating apps using iOS 4

Written by an experienced Apple developer and trainer, this full-color reference serves as an ideal jumping point for creating applications for Apple’s iOS 4 that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. In addition to in-depth coverage of the iOS SDK, the book walks you through the various core aspects of iPhone and iPad development. You’ll learn how to take advantage of the tools provided by XCode and you’ll benefit from a solid introduction to Objective-C, which allows you to have a smooth transition to iPhone development from another platform. 

• Offers a solid foundation for creating applications for Apple’s iOS 4
• Covers all the new features of iOS 4 and provides a new applications template for developing iPad and iPhone apps
• Addresses the new PopoverView for iPad apps
• Shows how to develop background applications, which is one of the new features in iOS 4

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development is your ultimate resource for creating applications for Apple's iOS 4.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Develop cutting-edge applications for the iPhone®, iPod touch®, and iPad

Get ready to dive into Apple's exciting world of mobile application development. This full-color book shows you how to take advantage of all the new features of the iPhone SDK 4 to create your own native iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad applications. You'll explore Apple's Xcode tools, the Objective-C programming language, and discover a host of APIs that enhance the capabilities of the iPhone SDK. The hands-on approach will help you quickly progress from building your first application to more sophisticated programs that use animations, recognize gestures, integrate voice chatting, and more.

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development:

• Shows how to create native iPhone and iPad applications by taking advantage of the Xcode tools and iPhone SDK

• Covers ways to speed development using tab bar, navigation, and utility templates

• Provides methods for accessing built-in applications such as the photo library and camera

• Describes steps for accessing the accelerometer to create compelling applications

• Explains how to use background services and perform background tasks

Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

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About the Author

Wei-Meng Lee is a technologist and founder of Developer Learning Solutions, a technology company specializing in hands-on training in the latest Microsoft and Apple technologies. He is also the author of Beginning iPhone SDK Programming with Objective-C and Beginning iPad Application Development.

Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470918020
• ISBN-13: 978-0470918029
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great beginner book, October 18, 2010

By 

K. Addaquay (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning iOS 4 Application Development (Paperback)

Been using this book for a few days now, and i must say its a great resource. Been thru 5 chapters in random order so far. i have read a bunch of iphone os programming books and this is definitely is my top 5. Every chapter, is just broken down into intricate details. The author has done a great job in explaining complex topics that might dazzle beginner programmers and made it very presentable to the user. i know i said its a great beginners book, but there are advanced topics that are covered like implementing push notification to bluetooth or running background applications. the best part of this book is manner in which they start of the topics and break everything down into details that makes the user understand. i highly recommend this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This Book!, October 29, 2010

By 

Lim Boon Tiong (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning iOS 4 Application Development (Paperback)

4 words summed it all... " I Love This Book!".

First thing first, this book is in full colour. It is such a pleasure to read the colour codes and the screen shot printings look amazing. This is also the best format layout I have ever seen in all the programming books I ever read. Great job!

It is not easy to learn iOS 4 programming if you are a a beginner. The appendices provide a good start to Objective C, Interface Builder and Xcode before you jump into the real stuff.

I spent the last couple of days going through the advance chapters and particularly like Part 4 which talk about web services integration and Push Notification Service. It is such a breeze reading and practising the exercises on my Mac. Thank you very much for the hard work in authoring this book.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good hands-on guide to iPhone programming, October 20, 2010

By 

Joanna Stein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning iOS 4 Application Development (Paperback)

I met Wei-Meng during one of his training courses conducted in Singapore. It was quite an eye-opening experience as that was my first time learning how to program the iPhone. My programming experience was in Java, and transitioning to Objective-C was quite a challenge. It was during the training that I knew that Wei-Meng has written a book on iOS 4 programming. The appendix on Objective-C is a good jump-start for anyone wishing to get started in iPhone programming, without needing to wade through pages of thick documentation on the subject.

I particularly like the way this book is structured - each chapter is independent and contains topics that you can jump to as and when you feel the need to. Of course, if you are new to iPhone programming, I would suggest you start with Parts 1 and 2 first, which lay the foundation of iPhone programming. Personally, I really like Part 4, which talks about stuff that are beyond beginners - Bluetooth, Bonjour, and Apple Push Notification service. And maps!!! They really are very cool when you see your apps running on your real devices. This book also contains the gem that quite a lot of other books left out - how to prepare your application for testing on your real devices. I was confused about the concepts of app IDs and their relationships with provisioning profiles, and this was really a hair-pulling experience when you try to do deployment yourself. Fortunately, the appendix A provides a very clear detailed steps to making your apps run on your device.

That said, the best way to learn iPhone programming (at least for me) is to attend Wei-Meng's classes (his classes are really interesting and fun!), and followed by reading this book for revision (most of what he covers in his classes are in this book). But if you don't have the chance to attend the classes, the next best way is to read his book. While I give this book 5 stars, one area I hope that it should cover more is in the area of UI design - I wanted to know how all the flashy UIs are done. But for a beginner book, I think it has served its intended audience well.