Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Stephen G. Kochan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0321566157 | ISBN-13: 978-0321566157 | Edition: 2

THE #1 BESTSELLING BOOK ON OBJECTIVE-C 2.0

Programming in Objective-C 2.0 provides the new programmer a complete, step-by-step introduction to Objective-C, the primary language used to develop applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X platforms.

 

The book does not assume previous experience with either C or object-oriented programming languages, and it includes many detailed, practical examples of how to put Objective-C to use in your everyday iPhone/iPad or Mac OS X programming tasks.

A powerful yet simple object-oriented programming language that’s based on the C programming language, Objective-C is widely available not only on OS X and the iPhone/iPad platform but across many operating systems that support the gcc compiler, including Linux, Unix, and Windows systems.

 

The second edition of this book thoroughly covers the latest version of the language, Objective-C 2.0. And it shows not only how to take advantage of the Foundation framework’s rich built-in library of classes but also how to use the iPhone SDK to develop programs designed for the iPhone/iPad platform.

 

Table of Contents

   1    Introduction

Part I: The Objective-C 2.0 Language

    2    Programming in Objective-C 

    3    Classes, Objects, and Methods

    4    Data Types and Expressions

    5    Program Looping

    6    Making Decisions

    7    More on Classes

    8    Inheritance

    9    Polymorphism, Dynamic Typing, and Dynamic Binding

  10    More on Variables and Data Types

  11    Categories and Protocols

  12    The Preprocessor

  13    Underlying C Language Features

Part II: The Foundation Framework

  14    Introduction to the Foundation Framework

  15    Numbers, Strings, and Collections

  16    Working with Files

  17    Memory Management

  18    Copying Objects

  19    Archiving

Part III: Cocoa and the iPhone SDK

  20    Introduction to Cocoa 

  21    Writing iPhone Applications

Part IV: Appendixes

  A    Glossary

  B    Objective-C 2.0 Language Summary

  C    Address Book Source Code

  D    Resources

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book spends half the time talking about the Objective-C language itself and half the time talking about Apple's Foundation and Cocoa frameworks. The chapters are well organized and concepts are well explained, so you end up with a solid foundation in the language. It's an easy read even with very little programming experience. The book doesn't cover Cocoa or the other higher level frameworks, but you'll be completely ready to pick it up by the time you're done with this book." 

About the Author

Stephen Kochan is the author and coauthor of several bestselling titles on the C language, including Programming in C (Sams, 2004), Programming in ANSI C (Sams, 1994), and Topics in C Programming (Wiley, 1991), as well as several Unix titles, including Exploring the Unix System (Sams, 1992) and Unix Shell Programming (Sams 2003). He has been programming on Macintosh computers since the introduction of the first Mac in 1984, and he wrote Programming C for the Mac as part of the Apple Press Library.  He maintains a web site and support forum for Programming in Objective-C 2.0 at classroomm.com/objective-c

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 2 edition (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321566157
• ISBN-13: 978-0321566157
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > C > Objects
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Development & Programming > OSX Development
  • #56 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Home Computing & How-to > OS X

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 148 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Beginner's Guide to Objective-C January 3, 2009

By E. Kim VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is both comprehensive and easy to understand. The sequence of chapters chosen to be read chronologically is well thought out (e.g. having the reader use static data types before introducing the generic id type, or having the reader declare and implement accessor methods before introducing the property and synthesize directives). The end of chapter exercises are also short (i.e. quick to complete) but also thoughtfully designed.

The author chose to make this book serve not only as a reference, but as a tutorial. In other words, a bit like the "... for Dummies" series in its hand-holding (i.e. tutorial) style. However, this book is certainly not for "dummies" as the author does not assume the reader to be slow or requiring interjections of humor or casualness. Other books will have authors write things like "Now grab a slice of pizza before we hit this really hard subject!", but this author thankfully spares the reader of this. Kochan is concise and direct. There are very few wasted or unnecessary sentences.

Kochan does not assume prior Objective-C, Cocoa framework, or X-code knowledge. However, if you have experience with just about any procedural or object-oriented language, you will have a much easier time with learning any new language, including Objective-C. If you do not have experience with ANY other language, then you will still have a difficult time with learning all of the Objective-C language as some topics just by their very nature are difficult to grasp immediately without practical experience.

Although there is a chapter each on the Cocoa framework and iPhone development, this book is focused on the Objective-C language and Apple's Foundation framework. Other resources will have to be utilized to learn Cocoa or Cocoa Touch.

BOOK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Programming in Objective-C
3. Classes, Objects, and methods
4. Data Types and Expressions
5. Program Looping
6. Making Decisions
7. More on Classes
8. Inheritance
9. Polymorphism, Dynamic Typing, and Dynamic Binding
10. More on variables and Data Types
11. Categories and Protocols
12. The Preprocessor
13. Underlying C Language Features
14. Introduction to the Foundation Framework Foundation Documentation
15. Numbers, Strings, and Collections
16. Working with Files
17. Memory Management
18. Copying Objects
19. Archiving
20. Introduction to Cocoa Framework Layers
21. Writing iPhone Applications
22. Appendix A. Glossary
23. Appendix B. Objective-C 2.0 Language Summary
24. Appendix C. Address Book Source Code
25. Appendix D. Resources

You may also want to consider reading Apple's developers' guides:

-Learning Objective-C: A Primer
-Object-Oriented Programming with Objective-C
-The Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language

Apple's guides are not easy for a novice, but having read them before reading Kochan's book definitely made using his book significantly easier and faster for me.

In summary, this book will make learning Objective-C about as easy as it can be since it starts with the assumption that the reader has no prior programming knowledge.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book organization! January 11, 2009

By John McSwain

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a web designer and developer and I've programmed in a lot of languages (i.e. HTML, javascript, actionscript, visual basic, etc.). I wanted to learn Objective-C as the quickly as I could. I quickly found out that not having experience in programming in C (the predecessor to Objective-C) made it hard to understand the reasoning behind the code syntax and finding resources that didn't assume I knew C was almost impossible...

After going through the first three chapters of this book in less than an hour, my confidence in the language has increased exponentially. The book is roughly 624 pages, but I feel like I could code the samples and finish the book in just a few days...

The book is organized into four main sections:
I: The Objective-C 2.0 Language
II: The Foundation Framework
III: Cocoa and the iPhone SDK
IV: Appendixes

The separation of these main topics, Objective-C Language features and the Foundation Framework for example, almost guarantees that there won't be much confusion if you are learning the language for the first time and that there will be a distinction between the topics and concepts for each section.

Kochan does a good job of creating a deep understanding of the material instead of simply saying `just write the code and we'll explain later'. For example, each chapter provides instructions on how to fulfill basic concepts using Objective-C such as writing classes, inheritance, loops, operators, etc. At the end of each chapter, there are `Exercises' which may range anywhere from 5-9, which more or less tests the reader's comprehension on the material that was just covered.

I bought the Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK and Cocoa(R) Programming for Mac(R) OS X (3rd Edition) before this book and I should have done the exact opposite. This book can serve as a foolproof foundation and reference guide for either of the aforementioned books and definitely shortens the learning curve to mastery.

83 of 98 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book to learn Objective-C 2.0 January 24, 2009

By Kelsey McClanahan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Note: Typos have been fixed since the edition I originally purchased. I've kept my original review below, which was influenced by the number of typos and formatting glitches I encountered in the original edition. Now that it's all been rectified, there is NO BETTER BOOK for learning Objective-C 2.0 than this book.

*** ORIGINAL REVIEW (noted deficiencies corrected in updated revisions) ***

I'd love to recommend this book as the gateway to learning to program Mac OS X applications, but unfortunately I cannot. It contains more than a few typographical errors, especially in the first few chapters. Those new to programming in C may end up confused and unable to understand why their programs will not compile. This is unacceptable for this type of book.

Beyond typos, my second gripe is the lack of exercise solutions. This book provides challenging exercises at the end of each chapter that are designed to hone your skills and solidify your understanding of taught topics. Frustratingly, there does not seem to be a source containing exercise solutions. None are found in the book, and surprisingly -- nothing is offered on the book's web page either. Nada. Learning is difficult when you cannot check your solution against the author's intended solution.

My surmise is to blame the editors -- someone unaccustomed to working on programming/technical books likely did the final layout.

I learned C Programming over 20 years ago, thanks in large part to Stephen G. Kochan's original 1988 masterpiece, "Programming In C." I picked up his latest book looking to master my Objective-C programming skills. Personally, I accomplished my goals -- but only because I have a 20+ year history of programming in C (and many other languages). Those new to the language may have to hobble through typos.

This book (minus typos) does an excellent job teaching you Objective-C 2.0. Knowing ObjC is a prerequisite to learning the Cocoa framework for Mac OS X.

Final thoughts:

TWO to THREE STARS for those new to programming. Don't frustrate yourself with typos and lack of solutions to chapter exercises.

FOUR to FIVE STARS for experienced C/C++ developers looking to jump to Objective-C 2.0.

NOTE: Those giving FIVE STAR reviews to this book knowing that it contains typos are not providing any service to those who are new to programming. What good is it to reward a publisher for poor performance? With any luck, the publisher will fix future versions.