iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual

Chapter 5. Getting Serious about Development

With your design documents in hand, you're ready to crack open a text editor and get to work! Chapter 1 gave you a quick introduction to the Xcode development environment. You're now going to dig into some of the details of your project file and see how to configure it for your own needs.

You'll also learn how to set up your work area so you can install your application on an iPhone. It's a complicated process—the configuration involves digital certificates and an Apple website that produces files that let your app run—but this chapter's step-by-step instructions will get you through it.

Throughout this chapter and the next, you'll see references to a project called Flashlight Pro. You'll want to have it handy as a reference. If you haven't downloaded it from the Missing CD page yet (www.missingmanuals.com/cds), now would be a good time.

Beyond the Template

Every project starts out with one of the templates that you saw on Every Flashlight Needs a Parts List. By nature, these templates are generic, but your project is unique. So you'll start by changing code and configuration files to suit your product's needs.

In this section, you'll become familiar with the basic settings in a working project and start to think about how to approach your new flashlight's development.

You're anxious to start coding, but you also know that there's always some setup required when you start using new software, especially true if it's your first project ...