Pro iOS5 Tools: Xcode Instruments and Build Tools

Pro iOS5 Tools: Xcode Instruments and Build Tools

by Brandon Alexander, J. Bradford Dillon, Kevin y. Kim
Released December 2011
Publisher(s): Apress
ISBN: 9781430236085

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Book description

Building on your knowledge of how to write basic applications, Pro iOS 5 Tools shows how to take your apps from promising to real, and from good to great, by using numerous performance and debugging techniques.

You will start by studying an alpha-stage iOS app and learning how you can use the tools provided in the iOS developer's toolbox, plus popular third-party tools, to take an app to a final product and ready to ship. Your own app development will never be the same again!

  • Learn the tools available to all iOS developers: Xcode, Instruments, network diagnostic tools and version control

  • Techniques for debugging by using Instruments, as well as the new features available in newest version of Xcode

  • Performance tuning techniques and workflow enhancements

What you'll learn

  • How to set up a bare-bones shopping cart app; from creating a new project to using a distributed version control system for setting up the environment

  • How to work your way through an app and tune the user interface for performance

  • How to diagnose and address memory issues, leaks and dealing with intermittent crashes

  • How to deal with networking issues and reliably recreate or simulate these environments

  • How to address multitasking, behind the scenes power drains, and reduce/optimize power usage from the radio and other power draining features in iOS devices

  • How to distribute your app to beta testers, prepare for the App Store and speed up development time by learning shortcuts and other enhancements to developer tools

Who this book is for

This book is for iOS developers looking to fully utilize iOS 5 tools like Xcode, Interface Builder and more, making their apps development faster and more efficient.

Table of contents

  1. Title
  2. Dedication
  3. Contents at a Glance
  4. Contents
  5. About the Authors
  6. About the Technical Reviewer
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction
    1. Why Write a Book on Tools?
    2. How This Book Is Organized
    3. Support and Contributions
  9. Chapter 1: Wax On, Wax Off
    1. Who Is This Book For?
    2. What This Book Is
    3. What You Need to Get Started
    4. What's in This Book
    5. Here We Go!
  10. Chapter 2: First-Class Tools
    1. Taking a Look Around
    2. Getting Back to the Code
    3. Instruments Time
    4. Tuning Performance
    5. Summary
  11. Chapter 3: Three Screens … and Well, It Runs
    1. Working with GitHub
    2. Connecting to Super Checkout
    3. Taking a Look Around
    4. Running Super Checkout
    5. Navigating the Project (and Xcode)
    6. Summary
  12. Chapter 4: Memory Management and Diagnostics
    1. Branches Are Our Friends
    2. Automatic Reference Counting
    3. Getting Back to Manual Reference Counting
    4. Establishing Healthy Coding Practices
    5. Zombies—No Not Those Kind of Zombies
    6. Zombies in Other Threads (Well Sort Of)
    7. Leaks
    8. GDB Kung Fu
    9. When All Else Fails
    10. And We're Done … Almost
    11. Summary
  13. Chapter 5: Core Animation and Smooth Scrolling
    1. Leveraging with the Main Thread
    2. Bad Scrolling No More
    3. Summary
  14. Chapter 6: Networking, Cache, and Power Management
    1. Understanding Networking and Cache Control
    2. Looking at Power Management
    3. Summary
  15. Chapter 7: Prepare the Beta!
    1. Managing Beta Testing
    2. Creating Ad Hoc Builds
    3. Alpha, Beta, Gamma?
    4. Summary
  16. Chapter 8: Why Are Things Breaking?
    1. Test Driven Development
    2. Putting It to Use with Your App
    3. UI Testing and the Automation Instrument
    4. Test, One Way or Another
  17. Chapter 9: Can We Automate Some of This?
    1. Continuous Integration
  18. Chapter 10: Now, They Want an iPad Version
    1. Before We Start Coding
    2. Implementing the iPad Version
    3. Finishing Up
    4. Summary
  19. Chapter 11: How Do I Share Some of This?
    1. Breaking Out Code into a Static Library
    2. Sharing on GitHub
    3. Choosing Your License Wisely
  20. Chapter 12: One More Thing
    1. Customizing Xcode
    2. Keyboard Shortcuts and More
    3. Viewing Documentation
    4. Summary
  21. Index

Product information

  • Title: Pro iOS5 Tools: Xcode Instruments and Build Tools
  • Author(s): Brandon Alexander, J. Bradford Dillon, Kevin y. Kim
  • Release date: December 2011
  • Publisher(s): Apress
  • ISBN: 9781430236085