Customer Reviews

Head First iPhone Development: A Learner's Guide to Creating Objective-C Applications for the iPhone

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the book you want if you want to build applications for the iPhone, you are an experienced programmer, and if you do not already know Objective C. The only book as good as or better than this one is Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK. The first two-thirds of that book guides you through iPhone OS programming in general, concentrating on the display. Later chapters cover more advanced topics. What that book has in detail though, it somewhat lacks in perspective. In other words - it fails to step back and give you the big picture. This head first book excels in the big picture as well as the details.

This head first book covers everything you need to know just as long as programming is not something that is new to you. In particular, object-oriented concepts should be familiar to you as well as programming in a procedural language such as C. The book takes it from there. If you have used the head-first series of books before then you know what you are in for. The book uses cartoons, crossword puzzles, Q&A sessions, fake interviews with devices and programs, and strange looking photographs to make your brain remember what it sees. The book is not a reference book on Objective C, and honestly, if you are going to go far with iPhone application development, then you probably should have a conventional book on that very topic after you finish this book and all of its exercises.

This book also gets you going by building an iPhone app in the first chapter. It will also do odd things that make you think about a design, such as leading you down the wrong path in the design cycle so that you remember the right path. For that very reason it is important to go through this book from beginning to end and do all of the exercises. You won't get the most out of it if you do not. Highly recommended if you are teaching yourself this subject.

The table of contents is not yet listed for this book, so I show that next:

getting started
iPhone app patterns
objective-c for the iPhone
multiple views
plists and modal views
saving, editing, and sorting data
tab bars and core data
migrating and optimizing with core data
camera, map kit, and core location
leftovers
preparing an app for distribution

None of these chapter names will probably mean that much to you until you finish the book. Highly recommended for the experienced programmer who is a novice at writing iPhone applications.

... there is a stupefying number of spelling errors. C'mon, Curt... Spelling errors? Big deal. Problem is, though, that this is a programming book, and a lot of the errors are in the code. Some of the errors are incorrect indicators on which file needs to be edited.

Honestly, this is the best book I've ever read for programming, but I get the impression that it was really rushed, and not proofread quite enough. Attention to detail is the hallmark of good programming practice, and the "fun, conversational style" of the book is no excuse.

That being said, if you want to learn iPhone development, get this book; it is worth it.

Just as there are "Human Interface" concepts and techniques in wide use today, so it goes with the need for "Information Interface." Unfortunately, here in the Information Age, Information Interface just doesn't get the love and respect that it requires. It all comes at you in a big unordered tsunami and it's up to you to find your way through it. That's why I'm particularly keen on the Head First series of books, which takes Information Interface very seriously, in spite of first appearances. Believe me, this is not in any way a book for "dummies." Since Information Interface has been my field of study for the past 20 years, AND I'm an iPhone developer as well, I think that the Head First series is one of the most amazing things to ever come along! And it's a double bonus that there's one introducing iPhone development.

It's critically important that anyone pursuing iPhone development approach it in an orderly fashion, and this is why I agree with the other reviewers that Beginning iPhone 3 Development, along with Head First iPhone Development are the two most important must-have books which any new iPhone developer needs to use. It's my opinion, though, that YOU should decide based on your previous experience whether Head First iPhone Development is the first or the second book you'll go through cover to cover to learn iPhone development in the most quick and efficient way possible. I feel everyone should go through both books cover to cover at a minimum. The authors of Beginning iPhone 3 Development are no slouches either, and have paid incredible attention to your learning experience, albeit in a more traditional fashion.

Both books DO make sure you learn the things you need to know in an orderly fashion. However, Head First iPhone Development is excellent at making you think and making what you learn stick more deeply. It doesn't always hold your hand and helps you learn to fly on your own in gentle ways. It even cleverly avoids telling you some things which will make you wonder, and then later it almost always addresses what you were wondering about. The result is that you'll undoubtedly "love it" and not really know why, just as you love the Mac and iPhone. It all has to do with the fact that we're human beings, psychological creatures, and not machines.

As with ANY programming tutorial, you MUST FIRST go to the book's website and mark up your book with corrections before you even start on page one to avoid spinning your wheels and experiencing unnecessary frustration. It's also a great way to take a quick reconnaissance flight through the whole book as you correct any errors from its "errata" - a tradeoff of all printed material. Just do it and skip complaining about the errors.

As a co-administrator of an online iPhone development forum, I have answered a bazillion questions, and 90% are the result of not approaching your learning curve in an orderly fashion. Books are still the most efficient way for an individual to study. Having the hundreds of videos available to you are also important, but nothing can match an orderly self-paced introduction which delivers instant gratification all along the way that will keep you interested and encouraged, until you finally "get it" and can move ahead on your own. Head First iPhone Development is this developer's favorite programming book of all time, and finally, here in the second decade of the 21st century, "Information Interface" is finally getting some attention. There's far more to do than we realize when we decide to go for writing iPhone apps, and this is a critical piece in your "path of least resistance."

This Head First book is written by the husband wife team who wrote Head First Algebra, my favorite Head First Book. They do an excellent job of introducing one to programming the iPhone. The Head First metaphor uses many visual cues to reinforce learning, and is full of examples and stories for further reinforcement. It works particularly well for those who are visual learners.

The book starts with a general introduction to programming devices with minimal screen real estate such as the iPhone and proceeds all the way to how to get your app into the iPhone App Store. It is written for anyone who might be interested in programming the iPhone, but will be tough sledding for those who don't have some background in a programming language. It is probably the easiest book to follow for those who are interested in creating iPhone apps, but it will still require concentrated effort, particularly if Objective C is a new language.

A word of warning (re Apple's SDK, not about the book). There is no easy way to program apps for the iPhone without using a Mac. Windows and Linux users need not apply. So unless you have a Mac, or plan to get a Mac, don't plan on creating iPhone apps. Sorry.

I bought this book with Beginning Iphone 3 Development. I have yet to touch the Iphone 3 book, I have tried but the Head First book keeps me coming back. The Head First books are so much more fun than most books. I love the hand written notes all over the pages. These notes have arrows pointing right to the IDE or source code they are talking about. This book moves very fast, I was half way through it in a few days, doing all labs as well.

Make sure you read the notes and pay close attention to the Q&A sections. I would even go to the end of the chapter and read those first. There were a few times I added interfaces on my own or did something I thought the example may be missing, only to read later in the Q&A why I didn't need to do it.

Good emphasis on getting the app to the store, covers debugging using Xcode early on.

I don't know Objective-C, I come from a Java background but that hasn't held me back at all using this book. If your goal was to learn Objective C I would use a reference book in conjunction with this book.

I did get stuck a couple of times on one of the examples, I used their source code from their website and compared it to mine and found my issues.

I wanted a book that would get me from point 0 to up and running fast and I think I chose the right book for that!

At first glance this book seems simple to follow and easy to go through - evidently the first three chapters are - minus all the errors. However when you start to build programs in later chapters the amount of errors ends up being ridiculous.. to the point where you will spend countless hours figuring out that the book is wrong

Most horribly to note the website errata site - error reporting centre is not kept up to date, and all the user published errors seem to have been abandoned by the authors of the book. Within examples are simple miniscule errors that will cause your program and your time programming to go haywire. The information isn't very clearly descriptive - as in its not* good for beginners especially. Most of the information is thrown in a shot gun affect into a page with no explanation of where and how they came from - which is not good if you want to actually know how to program something yourself with a book telling you step by step what to do.

Overall I wish i had never invested my money and mostly time into this book. I gave it two stars really out of pity and because only the first 3 of 9 chapters was semi useful.

For a while now I've been working on getting into developing iPhone applications. I first started with the Apress iPhone "Beginning iPhone 3 Development" and although at the time I felt I had a pretty good understanding of OOP and C programming. However going into the second chapter the book was way over my head. Naturally I stepped back to the Apress "Learn Objective-C on the Mac". The book was helpful although there was very little interaction. It was the teaching style of This does this, here is some example code to demonstrate it. There was little interaction with the reader, walking you through actually building an application.

I picked up this book, and I can't emphasize how great it is. The book engages the reader, is humorous at times, explains theories and concepts multiple times throughout the book to reinforce certain ideas. To anyone looking at starting out with iPhone development, get this book first. You won't regret it.

I respect their attempts to create an engaging book, however the content is probably not going to appeal to you unless you are younger or have serious ADD (Not saying with any insulting tone).

I personally haven't finished it because it was also not what I was looking for because it started off too much into NIBS and UIBuilder. I was starting at Apple when I purchased it and had to find a better Objective C book.

This is an excellent introduction to iPhone development, including Xcode and Objective-C. Like the other "Head First" books, this book takes a step-by-step approach to development, providing lots of examples and samples to help the reader along.

The book actually steps the reader through building a couple of sample applications. These applications start our small and simple, but become increasingly more complex as each chapter progresses. By the end of the book, you've actually built some pretty sophisticated iPhone applications. You'll also get experience using a number of built-in iPhone functionality, including the GPS and phone.

There are a few things the book doesn't cover, including using a built-in web browser and the accelerometer. Additionally, if you're interested in submitting an app to the AppStore, you'll be on your own, as the book ends right at that point.

However, aside from those few issues, this book will put you well on your way to developing iPhone applications. After just a few chapters, I had enough knowledge and experience to develop my own iPhone app. I'd recommend this book as a good introduction to iPhone programming.

If you have experience in server-side, Object-Oriented languages (PHP, Classic ASP, C#, Java, any server-side programming language), this book helps a lot with the fundamentals of XCode and Objective-C coding.

The book briefly explains psychologically how people retain information. Using this knowledge, it reinforces the same information through multiple pages and in different ways. It provides development scenarios, some good methods of development, and then it provides the code for you. To the point, this approach from the authors won't have you battling long with Objective-C code, the XCode IDE, or it's Interface Builder screen. Once the code is presented, the authors explain it through conversation, charts, quizzes (cliche, I know) and simple descriptions.

I'm finishing up Chapter 3, and I have to say that I have learned a great deal so far about iPhone development. I've programmed for 3+ years in C#, Classic ASP, PHP, and JavaSript (Prototype/JQuery stuff); so I am somewhat versed in OOP and server-side coding. Reading this book is like reading clifnotes: the authors are direct, to the point, and the content does not contain tenuous coding information.

I highly suggest buying this if you have no idea what you're doing with iPhone development, but have a couple years experience with coding server-side and OOP.