Learning iOS Programming, 2nd Edition

Chapter 14. Going Further

We’ve managed to cover a lot of ground over the preceding 13 chapters, but there is still a lot more ground to go. While you should by now be confidently building solid applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, there is still a lot to learn.

Cocoa and Objective-C

The Objective-C language has a number of powerful features, and the Cocoa framework that is layered on top of the language is extensive. I’ve obviously not had the time or space in this book to cover either one in the depth it really deserves.

If you intend to continue developing for the iPhone, you should consider reading further on Objective-C, especially if you’re having difficulties with memory management or the Model-View-Controller pattern around which most iPhone application development revolves.

Apple provides some excellent tutorial material on its developer website, and that should certainly be your first port of call. I also recommend the books Programming in Objective-C by Stephen G. Kochan (Addison-Wesley) and Cocoa and Objective-C: Up and Running by Scott Stevenson (O’Reilly), for a more detailed look at the language. See also Cocoa Design Patterns by Erik M. Buck and Donald A. Yacktman (Addison-Wesley) for a detailed look at design patterns in Cocoa.

The iOS SDK

Predictably, I’ve focused on the parts of Cocoa and Objective-C that will be most helpful in allowing you to write your own applications for iOS. But even there I’ve left out a lot in an attempt to simplify and get you ...