Programming iOS 4

Chapter 9. Life Cycle of a Project

This chapter surveys some of the main stages in the life cycle of a project, from inception to submission at the App Store. This survey will provide an opportunity to discuss some additional features of the Xcode development environment. You already know how to create a project, define a class, and link to a framework (Chapter 6), as well as how to create and edit a nib (Chapter 7) and how to use the documentation (Chapter 8).

Note

This chapter describes Xcode 4. Earlier versions, designated generically as Xcode 3.2.x, are very different.

Choosing a Device Architecture

As you create a project, after you pick a project template, in the part of the dialog where you name your project, the Device Family pop-up menu may offer a choice of iPhone or iPad. Some templates offer no choice, as they are by nature applicable to only one type of device. The Window-based Application template offers a third choice — Universal (meaning both iPhone and iPad).

You are not tied forever to your initial decision, but your life will be easier if you decide correctly from the outset. The iPhone and iPad differ in their physical environments as well as their programming interfaces. The iPad has a larger window size, along with some built-in interface features that don’t exist on the iPhone, such as split views and popovers (Chapter 22); thus an iPad project’s nib files and some other resources will differ from those of an iPhone project.

Different types of device may also be ...