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Stack OverflowGetting Started With iPhone Development
[+49] [17] Nick Berardi
[2008-12-01 20:13:38]
[ iphone ios ]
[ http://stackoverflow.com/questions/332039/getting-started-with-iphone-development ] [DELETED]

What are some key tools needed when you are first starting out in developing your first iPhone application?

  1. Software Tools
  2. IDEs
  3. Tool Chains
  4. Blog Posts
  5. Etc.
(23) I gave up when I found that I needed an Apple computer to do development. - erickson
(3) I wish they would just release a VM and get off this hardware is tied to the OS model - Nick Berardi
(1) There is an iPhone simulator, which is part of the IDE download. Of course it only runs on Mac OS X as well. I don't see the problem, though, Macs are great computers, and the whole experience is very cohesive and pleasant. - harms
(2) I second that 'harms'. I just got an iMac after developing on PCs since "the beginning", and even mainframe development. I am shocked at how comfortable the experience is. I dont know if its MAC OS X or the new machines, but the experience is great. A++ in my book. Now to develop for the iPhone! - Electric Automation
(11) Mac is just as proprietary as Microsoft. You don't see MS releasing .NET onto the Mac, and you won't see Cocoa released onto the PC. You can developer for PC proprietary systems only with a PC (the .NET platform). You can develop only for a Mac (the Cocoa platform) only from a Mac. We, as PC users, are just too used to having everything "just work" for the PC :p - Organiccat
(1) I got a mac just to start iPhone development, and I am also very impressed with the polish of the experience. I'm slowly working through the iTunes U Stanford lecture series on beginning iPhone development. It's very good. - Mark Struzinski
Sure this would be helpful - stackoverflow.com/questions/1939/… - Sagar
lots and lots of tutorials - Pankaj Kainthla
I wrote this article with lots of resources for getting started: bkbeachlabs.com/blog/… - aking63
[+27] [2008-12-01 20:20:15] harms [ACCEPTED]

The IDE, which is part of the iPhone SDK download, is Xcode [1] 3.1. You need to run on an Apple Mac using an Intel CPU and running Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".

You'll need to learn the programming language Objective-C [2].

The main library that you'll use is called Cocoa-Touch, a variant of the Cocoa [3] framework used on Apple's regular computers.

A good starting point is the sample projects, documentation and video tutorials at the Apple website that brd6644 mentioned.

Good luck! :-)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcode
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objective-C
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_%28API%29

You don't need to learn Objective-C; you could write the app in C or use something like Monotouch allowing you to write the app in C#. You could also use PhoneGap create an app using web technologies like HTML. - qegal
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[+11] [2008-12-07 17:49:17] Geraud.ch

In my opinion, the best way to begin is with the Stanford lectures [1]. This is a course, with the first step on Objective-C, and numerous key subject on the Cocoa-Touch framework and the way to publish App on the store.

You'll find lot of useful resources.

[1] http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs193p/cgi-bin/index.php

(1) They really do a great job! You can find the videos on YouTube also, if you don't want to use iTunes U … - Dude
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[+8] [2008-12-01 20:21:55] Patrick Harrington

I too am looking to start coding the for iPhone, and had never coded in Objective-C or worked with the Cocoa framework. I recently ordered Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X by Aaron Hillegass [1] and have found it to be an excellent starting point.

[1] http://www.bignerdranch.com/products.shtml

Patrick - what has your experience been so far with this development? Would you [still] recommend the book you've mentioned here? - itsmatt
Hey! Was having a tough time picking up the Objective-C language/syntax, so I grabbed "Learn Objective C on the Mac" (tinyurl.com/d5fqkn) and it has been the perfect book to learn Obj-C. I may even grab another Apress book, Beginning iPhone Development (tinyurl.com/42ablp) afterwards. - Patrick Harrington
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[+7] [2008-12-01 20:21:45] Ian Varley

These aren't totally iPhone specific, but for some general background:

That's a good start.

[1] http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0672325861
[2] http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0321503619

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[+6] [2008-12-01 20:45:22] John Topley

The Pragmatic Programmers have got a free Getting started with Xcode and Interface Builder [1] screencast available which should give you a good feel for what iPhone development is like.

[1] http://pragprog.com/screencasts/v-bdiphone/writing-your-first-iphone-application

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[+5] [2008-12-01 20:39:29] Cristian Libardo

I found this tutorial very helpful: appsamuck [1]

Good luck!

[1] http://www.appsamuck.com/

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[+3] [2008-12-01 20:15:57] cliff.meyers

http://developer.apple.com/iphone

You can get the iPhone SDK from there which includes the IDE, debugger, iPhone emulator, etc.


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[+2] [2011-01-06 13:54:11] David Burrows

The Stanford iPhone development course is provided free on iTunes U and well worth a watch, takes you through iPhone dev in detail from first steps.

Latest Course (Winter 2010) is here: http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/iphone-application-development/id384233225


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[+1] [2008-12-07 17:53:51] Alex

Once you get used to Objective-C, Cocoa and XCode, I highly recommand you The iPhone Developer's Cookbook [1].

It contains all the basic stuff you'll want to do inside your iPhone App, with a lot of clean code to start with.

[1] http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0321555457

Just got the cookbook, it's does a great job tying a lot of the things we learned from the Apple Dev site together. - OhioDude
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[+1] [2009-07-03 11:05:56] Adeem Maqsood Basraa

Getting started with iPhone Development Tutorial---- iPhone development guide in details with videos to step up your Xcode and help you to submit your application to apple store. http://adeem.me/blog/iphone-development-guide/


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[+1] [2011-02-09 04:28:37] Götze

The IDE, which is part of the iPhone SDK download, is Xcode 3.2.5. You need to run on an Apple Mac using an Intel CPU and running Mac OS X 10.6.6 .

Programming Languages you should know : "Objective C"

The main library you'll be working on : "Cocoa Touch"

Start from the Apple Developer's website , take help from the blogs available on various websites.

Good luck! :-)


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[0] [2008-12-01 20:19:48] Thomas Hansen

You can develop for the iPhone purely using Open Web technology like jQuery or Ra-Ajax [1] (Disclaimer; I work with Ra-Ajax) and as long as you don't need something really fancy implemented like Photo Shop 2.0 or games I'd strongly encourage you to STICK to Open Web.

By following Open Standards you can even mostly keep the exact same codebase for both your iPhone version and "everything else"...

[1] http://ra-ajax.org

Unfortunately this precludes using most of the cool iPhone features, which is why developers wanted an SDK for native apps in the first place! - John Topley
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[0] [2009-07-10 11:45:39] Mark Struzinski

I've been trying to immerse myself in the Mac world to pick this stuff up (been a .NET/Windows dev for years), but it's a huge paradigm shift. I just got Learn Objective–C on the Mac [1]. It's very good so far. Also the Mobile Orchard [2] podcast has been very informative.

[1] http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1430218150
[2] http://www.mobileorchard.com/

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[0] [2010-07-03 01:56:55] Linas

Also:

  1. Make sure you figure out how to use some of the debugger functionality first. This will save you a lot of time and headaches :) At least set the breakpoint on objc_exception_throw as described in http://www.cocoadev.com/index.pl?DebuggingTechniques

  2. You might find Three20 library [1] useful too as it provides you useful "as-seen-in-other-apps" UI bits so you don't need to reimplement them yourself. 320 is a bit underdocumented though :(

[1] http://github.com/facebook/three20

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[0] [2011-04-18 06:52:47] Eric Chen

This question has a good answer.

Best book / resources for learning iOS programming? [1]

I think it is very excellent answer, I just also follow their guide, now i am coding well. I hope that also can help you.

[1] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3403049/best-book-resources-for-learning-ios-programming

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[0] [2011-05-27 15:38:40] Joe Tyman

Right now Xcode 4 is out. It is 5 bucks from the App Store and include Interface builder is include. The Sanford prodcast are amazing. Hillegrass book as much before is something every Cocoa developer needs.


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[-1] [2012-01-09 09:12:24] Mihai Panţiru

Visit this link [1], is very helpful:

  • Top 32 Resources A Mobile App Developer Should Know About
[1] http://mobileorchard.com/top-32-resources-mobile-app-development/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3a%20MobileOrchard%20%28Mobile%20Orchard%29

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