Xcode and Instruments Fundamentals: Build and Optimize Apps for iOS and OS X

Video description

Xcode and Instruments Fundamentals LiveLessons covers how to develop and debug applications with the Xcode IDE and how to use Instruments to perform sophisticated debugging and performance analysis.

Brandon Alexander, developer and author, covers how to use the iOS development toolkit. The first four lessons cover Xcode by showing viewers how to navigate the basic interface, create a new project and use various editors, understand how Xcode organizes the build settings, debug their application with LLDB, and customize Xcode for their workflow. Lessons 5-10 focus on Instruments by showing viewers how to navigate the interface and profile their application, analyze memory leaks and break retain cycles, analyze general performance and make the application responsive, analyze Core Data performance, analyze power consumption of the application, and use Instruments to drive the application.

About the Author:

Brandon Alexander is a developer, author, and speaker. Having worked in multiple industries writing various types of software, Brandon has found his calling as an iOS developer. After entering the world of iOS development, he began speaking at conferences and authored the book Pro iOS 5 Tools (Apress). Brandon is an iOS developer at Black Pixel, which is an interdisciplinary team of senior designers, developers, and artists working together to create beautiful and well-architected applications for Apple hardware. www.blackpixel.com.

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
    1. Introduction to Xcode and Instruments Fundamentals LiveLessons 00:04:18
  2. Lesson 1: Welcome to Xcode
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:35
    2. 1.1 Tour the Xcode interface 00:20:27
    3. 1.2 Navigate Xcode 00:18:50
  3. Lesson 2: Editing Your Project’s Files
    1. Learning objectives 00:01:13
    2. 2.1 Edit source files 00:11:53
    3. 2.2 Edit Interface Builder files 00:06:25
    4. 2.3 Create Storyboards 00:04:08
    5. 2.4 Edit Core Data models 00:05:03
  4. Lesson 3: Inside Your Project’s Build Settings
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:35
    2. 3.1 Edit your project’s build configuration 00:08:06
    3. 3.2 Conquer Targets and Schemes 00:09:07
    4. 3.3 Create sub-projects and static libraries 00:02:29
  5. Lesson 4: Advanced Xcode
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:36
    2. 4.1 Prepare for debugging on the device 00:03:20
    3. 4.2 Debug with LLDB 00:10:47
    4. 4.3 Customize Xcode 00:06:58
  6. Lesson 5: Welcome to Instruments
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:33
    2. 5.1 Prepare for performance tuning and look at the Instruments interface 00:10:37
    3. 5.2 Tour the available Instruments 00:05:22
  7. Lesson 6: Debugging Memory Issues
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:26
    2. 6.1 Fix memory leaks and retain cycles 00:04:47
    3. 6.2 Detect and remove NSZombies 00:04:46
    4. 6.3 Analyze overall memory performance 00:06:08
  8. Lesson 7: General Performance Analysis and Tuning
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:32
    2. 7.1 Use the Time Profiler: Discover inefficient algorithms 00:04:15
    3. 7.2 Use the Time Profiler: Un-block the main thread 00:08:35
    4. 7.3 Improve graphics performance: Analyze blended layers 00:04:21
    5. 7.4 Improve graphics performance: Discover offscreen rendered images 00:05:21
    6. 7.5 Improve graphics performance: Find misaligned images 00:04:05
  9. Lesson 8: Tuning Core Data
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:35
    2. 8.1 Analyze fetches 00:05:00
    3. 8.2 Look at the cache system 00:05:21
    4. 8.3 Analyze save times and frequency 00:02:45
  10. Lesson 9: Power Management
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:35
    2. 9.1 Gather power usage data 00:01:32
    3. 9.2 Analyze power usage data 00:08:05
  11. Lesson 10: Automation with Instruments
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:25
    2. 10.1 Automate UI testing 00:05:53
    3. 10.2 Combine automation with other Instruments 00:02:34
  12. Summary
    1. Summary of Xcode and Instruments Fundamentals LiveLessons 00:02:46

Product information

  • Title: Xcode and Instruments Fundamentals: Build and Optimize Apps for iOS and OS X
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: January 2013
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 0133400409