Programming in Objective-C (4th Edition) (Developer's Library) [Paperback]

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Product Details

Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 4 edition (December 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0321811909
ISBN-13: 978-0321811905
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Stephen G. Kochan
List Price : ~~$49.99~~
Price : $31.49
You Save : $18.50 (37%)

Customer Reviews

This is clearly the best intro book on Objective C out there. It's fairly comprehensive, doesn't assume any prior programming experience, and best of all, it's fully updated for the latest XCode 4.2, ARC, and iOS 5 development environment. Apple really has been changing the rules of the game for app development very quickly in the OS X days, and this book has kept pace remarkably well. It's really a great intro.
If there's one small weakness, I'd say the author might have presented some tougher challenges in the chapter ending exercises. The sample problems in the text are all very straight-forward and can be answered very easily by referring to the previous chapter itself. At least I think some readers would benefit from the addition of 1 or 2 challenges that might require some out of the box thinking. But hey, compared to other programming books that take the "sink or swim" approach and/or assume they're writing for a 25 year C veteran, I'm willing to forgive the author for a bit of coddling.
I think this is the best place to start Mac an iOS programming, and absolutely where anyone without prior Java, C or even Perl/PHP experience needs to begin. Every other book I've seen assumes a decent familiarity with programming concepts and makes no real attempt to match the scope of this book's coverage (skipping many C topics and more advanced issues like protocols, etc.)
It's not the only book you'll need to program for Apple products, but it's the best first one and it's such a good book starting here makes it more likely you'll actually move on to the Cocoa, etc books. Be sure to buy the Fourth Edition to ensure you get coverage on the radical changes introduced by ARC memory management.

This book keeps at a good pace! It's not too complicated, he explains everything good in detail--if he doesn't at that chapter then and there he will surely later in the book! It's great! He takes into consideration of where you are at when first stepping into the world of Objective-C. He knows it's confusing for you at first but he drives you through it, and he does it smoothly--especially with the end of every chapter questions and emphasis of things from past chapters. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn Objective-C, then after completion of this book you can move onto Cocos2d or something! Don't fear learning this intimidating language, buy this book and it'll be a peace of cake. I guarantee!