iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners

✍ Scribed by Rory Lewis

• Publisher: Apress
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 328
• Series: Getting Started
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The iPhone is the hottest gadget of our generation, and much of its success has been fueled by the App Store, Apple’s online marketplace for iPhone applications. Over 1 billion apps have been downloaded in the 9 months the App Store has been open, ranging from the simplest games to the most complex business apps. Everyone has an idea for the next best-selling iPhone app—presumably that’s why you’re reading this now. And with the release of the iPad, this demand will just continue to grow.

So how do you build an application for the iPhone and iPad? Don’t you need to spend years learning complicated programming languages? What about Objective-C, Cocoa Touch, and the SDK? The answer is that you don’t need to know any of those things. Anybody can start building simple applications for the iPhone and iPad, and this book will show you how.

This book takes you to getting your first applications up and running using plain English and practical examples. It cuts through the fog of jargon and misinformation that surrounds iPhone and iPad application development, and gives you simple, step-by-step instructions to get you started.

• Teaches iPhone and iPad application development in language anyone can understand
• Provides simple, step-by-step examples that make learning easy
• Offers videos that enable you to follow along with the author—it’s like your own private classroom

What you’ll learn

• Get both yourself and your computer set up for iPhone and iPad application development.
• Start by making small changes to existing applications to build your knowledge and experience before creating your own applications.
• Follow steps in plain English to build simple apps and get them working immediately.
• Style your application so that it looks good and users can easily navigate through it.
• Make use of the iPhone’s touch screen and accelerometer.
• Use shortcuts and cheat sheets to create apps the easy way.

Who this book is for

If you have a great idea for an iPhone or iPad app, but have never programmed before, then this book is for you. You don’t need to have any previous computer programming skills—as long as you have a desire to learn, and you know which end of the mouse is which, you’ll be fine.

Table of Contents

1. Before We Get Started 
2. Blast-Off! 
3. What’s Next?  
4. An Introduction to the Code  
5. Buttons & Labels with Multiple Graphics 
6. Switch View with Multiple Graphics  
7. Dragging, Rotating, and Scaling  
8. Table Views, Navigation, and Arrays  
9. MapKit

✦ Table of Contents

Prelim......Page 1
Contents at a Glance......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Foreword......Page 9
About the Contributing Authors......Page 12
About the Technical Reviewer......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 14
What This Book Will Do For You......Page 15
The Approach I Take......Page 16
Necessities and Accessories......Page 17
Computer Science: A Broad and Diverse Landscape......Page 22
What You Will Learn......Page 25
How Does This All Work?......Page 26
Our Road Map: Using Xcode and Interface Builder......Page 28
Blast-Off!......Page 32
helloWorld_002 – a Navigation-based Application......Page 53
helloWorld_003 – Modifying a Navigation-based App......Page 63
What’s Next?......Page 68
Introducing Chapter 4—An Introduction to the Code......Page 69
Introducing Chapter 5—Buttons & Labels with Multiple Graphics......Page 70
Introducing Chapter 6—Switch View with Multiple Graphics......Page 71
Introducing Chapter 7—Dragging, Rotating, and Scaling......Page 73
Introducing Chapter 8—Table Views, Navigation, and Arrays......Page 74
§II: THE iPHONE AND THE iPAD......Page 75
§III: A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD......Page 81
You’ve Said “Hello!” … but now, INDIO!......Page 82
An Introduction to the Code......Page 85
004_helloWorld: Buttons with Graphics......Page 86
Nibs, Zibs, and Xibs......Page 103
Methods......Page 104
helloWorld_005: a View-Based Application......Page 107
Preliminaries......Page 108
Xcode – Beginning a New Project......Page 111
Understanding IBOutlets......Page 113
Pointers......Page 115
Properties: Management & Control......Page 117
Adding IBActions......Page 119
Coding the Implementation File......Page 120
Providing for Synthesis......Page 122
Interface Builder: Making the Connections......Page 124
Final Step: File’s Owner & uiImageView......Page 132
IBOutlets and IBActions......Page 136
More About Pointers......Page 137
In the Chapter Ahead......Page 138
Switch View with Multiple Graphics......Page 139
Preliminaries......Page 142
Name your Project “einSwitch01”......Page 147
Create the 1st UIViewController Subclass......Page 151
Create the Ein1Controller......Page 152
Create the Ein2Controller......Page 153
Make Sure Images Are Embedded......Page 154
Save Einstein2View.xib......Page 155
Drag the Images into Xcode......Page 156
Assign your Icon in the “plist”......Page 157
Code the AppViewDelegate......Page 158
Working SwitchView......Page 160
SwitchViewController and AppDelegate......Page 162
SwitchViewController Header File......Page 166
Ready for Lazy Load—Implementation File......Page 169
A Note about Comments and Lazy Loads......Page 170
Copy Contents of SwitchViewController.txt......Page 172
A Note about Apple’s Boilerplate Implementation File......Page 173
Working on the .xib Files......Page 175
Drag a View onto the Screen......Page 177
Start Working on the Einstein#View.xib Files......Page 181
Repeat Process for Second Image......Page 185
einSwitch_002—a Tab-Bar Application......Page 190
einSwitch_003—a Window-Based Application......Page 205
Digging … Your Brain......Page 221
Dragging, Rotating, and Scaling......Page 222
DragRotateAndScale—a View-Based Application......Page 223
Starting the DragRotateAndScale App......Page 224
Creating a Custom UIImageView Subclass......Page 226
Overriding – initWithImage in TransformView.m......Page 228
Creating Touch-Handling Stubs......Page 229
Translating in touchesMoved......Page 231
Creating a TransformView......Page 233
Preparing TransformView for Rotation and Scaling......Page 238
Helper Methods......Page 239
Adding to “-touchesBegan”......Page 240
Modifying -touchesMoved......Page 242
Digging the Code......Page 245
Gesture Support and the iPad......Page 246
Table Views, Navigation, and Arrays......Page 248
Table Views and Navigation Stacks......Page 251
Starting the Food App......Page 252
Adding the Category Names Array in RootViewController.h......Page 254
Creating the Categories Array in -viewDidLoad......Page 255
Setting Up Table View Data Source Methods......Page 256
Table View Delegation......Page 257
Setting up FoodTableViewController......Page 258
Creating the Convenience Constructor for the FoodTableViewController......Page 261
Data Source and Delegation for the FoodTableViewController......Page 262
Creating the FoodViewController Class......Page 263
The FoodViewController Header File......Page 264
Setting Up FoodViewController, -viewDidLoad, and the (.xib)......Page 265
Icon File......Page 267
Testing the App......Page 268
Memory Management......Page 270
Reuse Identifiers......Page 272
MapKit......Page 273
A Little about Frameworks......Page 274
Preinstalled MapKit Apps......Page 275
Find Locations......Page 276
Get Directions......Page 277
See Which Way You’re Facing......Page 278
See Traffic......Page 279
Search for a Location......Page 280
Change Your View......Page 281
Cool and Popular MapKit Apps to Inspire You......Page 282
Possible Prepping for the App......Page 283
A New View-Based Template......Page 285
Adding the Annotation File......Page 286
It’s Already Working!......Page 287
Check It Out—the iPad Simulator......Page 288
Make It Look a Little Bit Better......Page 289
Dealing with the Implementation......Page 290
Coding the myPos.h File......Page 296
The myPos.m File......Page 297
The AppDelegate Files......Page 298
Connect MapView with MKMapView......Page 299
Parsing to MapKit from the Internet......Page 302
MapKit Parsing......Page 305
Three MapKit Final Projects: CS-201 iPhone Apps, Objective-C......Page 307
Zoom Out … Seeing the Big Picture......Page 322
¦ A ¦ C......Page 324
¦ G......Page 325
¦ O......Page 326
¦......Page 327
¦ V......Page 328