Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (2nd Edition) (Developer's Library) (Paperback)

by Stephen Kochan (Author)
Key Phrases: stephen kochan, dynamic typing, language features, Interface Builder, Julia Kochan, Tony Iannino (more...)

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Review

 

Product Description

THE #1 BEST SELLING BOOK ON OBJECTIVE-C 2.0!

From the author of Programming in C,Programming in Objective-C 2.0 provides the new programmer a complete, step-by-step introduction to the Objective-C language. 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 programming needs.

Objective-C has become the standard programming language for application development on the Mac OS X and iPhone platforms. 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 but across many operating systems that support the gcc compiler, including Linux, Unix, and Windows systems.

 

The second edition of this book has been updated and expanded to cover Objective-C 2.0. 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 specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

 

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




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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: 8.6 x 7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 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 - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book: Clear, concise, and comprehensive!, January 12, 2009

By	Jack (Dingmans Ferry, PA USA) - See all my reviews

I had heard about Kochan's reputation for writing clear and concise books, so I was anxiously awaiting the release of the second edition of what has been recommended to me as THE book to learn Objective-C from. I was certainly not disappointed. I was able to work through this book in a week's time and even write my first iPhone application, just from the material presented in this text.

Kochan methodically teaches the mechanics of the language, followed by the Foundation Framework, and then the iPhone SDK. In the last chapter on the iPhone, Kochan shows how to use two of the classes taught in the book (a calculator class and a fraction class) to develop a fraction calculator that runs on the iPhone. I was able to get the program running on the iPhone simulator that comes with the iPhone SDK. You should note that there was a mistake in listing some of the code for this example. I contacted the author and he was aware of the error. He mentioned that all the code, the answers to the exercises, and the errata will be posted shortly. It's helpful to note that Kochan is active in MacRumors forums and seems to respond quickly to questions posted there as well as to the several emails I sent him.

After I got the iPhone fraction calculator working, I started adding features to the calculator (some came from suggestions in the exercises at the end of the chapter), and this has greatly improved my understanding of how everything works and how it all works together: XCode, Interface Builder, the iPhone Simulator, and Objective-C.

Now I have to dive deeper into Cocoa programming and the iPhone SDK. Kochan has given me a great start to move on to one of the recommended follow-on texts with confidence and a strong footing in the language..

In my opinion, this book is the best way to learn Objective-C and a must read for prospective mac and iPhone application developers.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	John McSwain "Compound J" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

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.