iOS App Development For Dummies

Introduction

iOS App Development For Dummies is a beginner’s guide to developing iOS apps. And not only do you not need any iOS development experience to get started, but you also don’t need any Mac development experience, either. I’ve written this book as though you are coming to iPhone and iPad app development as a blank slate, ready to be filled with useful information and new ways to do things. Well, almost a blank slate, anyway; see the upcoming “Foolish Assumptions” section for details on what you do need to know before using this book.

Because of the nature of the iPhone and iPad, you can create small, bite-sized apps that can be quite powerful. Also, because you can start small and create real applications that do something important for a user, it’s relatively easy to transform yourself from an “I know nothing” person into a developer who, though not (yet) a superstar, can still crank out quite a respectable app.

But the iPhone and iPad can be home to some pretty fancy software as well — so I’ll take you on a journey through building an industrial-strength app and show you the ropes for developing one on your own.

A Bit of History

It’s 6:00 a.m. PST on January 9, 2007. A distressingly long line of nerds wrapped all the way around San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Why? To hear Steve Jobs give his MacWorld Expo keynote address. It was nuts to get up so early on a cold morning, but Steve Jobs was rumored to be introducing an Apple phone.

No one knew whether an Apple phone ...