Xcode® 4

Chapter 6: Using Documentation

In This Chapter

Understanding the Apple documentation Understanding resource types Using the Xcode documentation viewer Using other documentation

The iOS and OS X development tools are supported by Reference Libraries, documentation that provides orientation information for new developers and describes specific features in detail.

Newcomers often assume it's trivially easy to use the documentation. In fact, the organization and content are complex, and using the files effectively is a key developer skill.

The contents are vast. In paper form, they would require many feet of shelf space. To simplify access and to guarantee that the details are always up to date, the documentation is now stored online. You can access it using a conventional web browser, as shown in Figure 6.1, which illustrates the main iOS Reference Library access page.

CAUTION

The URLs for Apple's online documentation change regularly. Use a Google search to find the current location.

You can also access it via the streamlined and expanded documentation tools built into Xcode 4, which are described in the rest of this chapter.

TIP

When you begin with iOS or OS X, you often return to the same documentation pages over and over. The Xcode documentation viewer includes a bookmark feature ...