Professional Xcode® 3

Chapter 2. The Grand Tour

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Learning about the Project

• Understanding Menus and Editors

• Getting Help

Starting up Xcode is sort of like walking through the front gates of Disneyland, or onto the campus of a major university, or even a big shopping mall for the very first time. It's vast and you have no idea where to go first. If you just start walking, you'll quickly be lost and disoriented, so you do what every first-time visitor does; you get a map.

Neither Xcode, nor any of those other places, has been intentionally designed to be cryptic or confusing. In fact, they all go out of their way to be as friendly and accommodating as possible. However, the sheer size and complexity of what they offer cause them to be perplexing and frustrating at times. If you take a moment to get a feel for the scope and organization of Xcode, your initial forays will be much more enjoyable. Start by getting your bearings.

THE PROJECT

The central construct in Xcode, both physically and metaphorically, is the project. Everything you will accomplish in Xcode begins with a project. In fact, without an open project Xcode won't do much beyond letting you browse the documentation and set some preferences. The spirit of your project is stored in a project document on your file system. The project window, shown in Figure 2-1, is the manifestation of that document.

Figure 2-1. FIGURE 2-1

Because you ...