Beginning iOS 4 Application Development

Appendix B. Getting Around in Xcode

Xcode is the integrated development environment (IDE) that Apple uses for developing Mac OS X, iPhone, and iPad applications. It is a suite of applications that includes a set of compilers, documentation, and Interface Builder (discussed in Appendix C).

Using Xcode, you can build your iPhone and iPad applications from the comfort of an intelligent text editor, coupled with many different tools to help debug your applications. If you are new to Xcode, this appendix can serve as a useful guide to get you started quickly. Appendix C covers the Interface Builder in more detail.

Launching Xcode

The easiest way to launch Xcode is to type Xcode in the textbox of Spotlight. Alternatively, you can launch Xcode by navigating to the /Developer/Applications/ folder and double-clicking the Xcode icon.

Note

For convenience, you can also drag the Xcode icon to the Dock so that in the future you can launch it directly from there.

At the time of writing, the version of Xcode available is version 3.2.3.

Project Types Supported

Xcode supports the building of iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X applications. When you create a new project in Xcode (which you do by choosing File

As shown on the left, you can create two main project types: iPhone OS and Mac OS X. Under the iPhone OS category are the Application and Library items.

Figure B.1. FIGURE B-1

If you select the Application item, ...