Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide

by Aaron Hillegass, Mikey Ward

Overview

Want to write iOS apps or desktop Mac applications? This introduction to programming and the Objective-C language is your first step on the journey from someone who uses apps to someone who writes them.

Based on Big Nerd Ranch's popular Objective-C Bootcamp, Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide covers C, Objective-C, and the common programming idioms that enable developers to make the most of Apple technologies. Compatible with Xcode 5, iOS 7, and OS X Mavericks (10.9), this guide features short chapters and an engaging style to keep you motivated and moving forward. At the same time, it encourages you to think critically as a programmer.

Here are some of the topics covered:

• Using Xcode, Apple’s documentation, and other tools
• Programming basics: variables, loops, functions, etc.
• Objects, classes, methods, and messages
• Pointers, addresses, and memory management with ARC
• Properties and Key-Value Coding (KVC)
• Class extensions
• Categories
• Classes from the Foundation framework
• Blocks
• Delegation, target-action, and notification design patterns
• Key-Value Observing (KVO)
• Runtime basics

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321942067
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	11/18/2013
Series:	Big Nerd Ranch Guides
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	325
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Aaron Hillegass, a former employee at NeXT and Apple, has nearly two decades experience programming and teaching Objective-C, Cocoa, and, more recently, iOS. Aaron is the author of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X and co-author of iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. Both best-sellers, these books have helped many people develop and enhance their programming skills. In 2001, Aaron founded Big Nerd Ranch and began developing intensive courses that teach programming in a focused, distraction-free environment. He is currently working on site plans and blueprints for the new Ranch to be located in Atlanta, GA.

Mikey Ward is a senior iOS and Cocoa instructor at Big Nerd Ranch. Mikey also convenes the Atlanta chapter of CocoaHeads, a worldwide group devoted to discussion of Apple's frameworks for writing Mac and iOS applications.

Big Nerd Ranch is a unique software engineering and training company where monastic principles drive technological development. Since 2001, the company has been helping students master programming languages through public enrollment bootcamps, private corporate on-site training, and a growing roster of programming books. Big Nerd Ranch offers consultative services to a broad array of clients, shaping their mobile strategies and developing fresh and engaging mobile and desktop applications.

Table of Contents

Part I: Getting Started
1. You and This Book
2. Your First Program

Part II: How Programming Works
3. Variables and Types
4. if/else
5. Functions
6. Numbers
7. Loops
8. Addresses and Pointers
9. Pass By Reference
10. Structs
11. The Heap

Part III: Objective-C and Foundation
12. Objects
13. More Messages
14. NSString
15. NSArray
16. Developer Documentation
17. Your First Class
18. Inheritance
19. Object Instance Variables
20. Preventing Memory Leaks
21. Collection Classes
22. Constants
23. Writing Files with NSString and NSData
24. Callbacks
25. Protocols
26. Property Lists

Part IV: Event-Driven Applications
27. Your First iOS Application
28. Your First Cocoa Application

Part V: Advanced Objective-C
29. init
30. Properties
31. Categories
32. Blocks

Part VI: Advanced C
33. Bitwise Operations
34. C Strings
35. C Arrays
36. Command-Line Arguments
37. Switch Statements

Part VII: Objective-C Runtime
38. How Messaging Works
39. How Classes Work
40. Runtime Attributes
41. Method Swizzling
42. Associated Objects