Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

-track down an example app to hack around with. this was the single biggest thing that got me from the hurdle from a Hello World app to a production full featured thing

-learn objective-c yes there is no way around it! try rewriting your favorite python or C example to get your head around some of the translation

-stackoverflow is your friend

-it's easier to get started working without Interface builder, so you can do that just to learn a thing or two with a sample app but then do the same thing using IB; it will be quicker and cleaner in the end. this may be the hardest thing to start to wrap your mind around as it involves lots of clicking and less hacking

-design is everything. if you really want a quality app it's key to go from the bare bones to something a designer put skill into. once you get the hang of IB this can be a quick and amazing makeover. find a good designer to collaborate with.

What I did was make a simple app highlighting each skill I wanted to learn (Tables, Pickers, etc.).

Realize that a lot more time than you think will go into submitting to the store, provisioning, and getting your ducks in order there. Don't leave one hour to do this the first time. Also don't asume because it was easy the first time it will be the next. XCode gets very confused with multiple provisioning profiles sometimes. Things expire. etc.

I read the O'Reilly iOS book and Tapworthy along the way. And an Objective-C book or two; but I don't remember which.




> track down an example app to hack around with.

Just watch out - as with every language, there is a lot of bad code out there. While I agree with the notion of reading others' code (personally that helps me a lot to learn a new language), I'd go through the Apple-provided sample code before venturing into code of random apps.


Unfortunately, much of the Apple sample code is also pretty terrible.

Here's one heuristic: if you see any Objective C++ files (*.mm) in the project, you can probably ignore it as an example of good style.


Disagree. Some good libraries are C++, so linking to them requires you to use Obj-C++ (at very least, changing the name to *.mm).


Yeah, I meant things like sample code for plain C frameworks, where the author has just decided "hey, why not do this in Obj-C++ instead of Obj-C." As I recall, many of the AudioToolbox examples are like this.

Didn't mean to imply that there's no place for Obj-C++, just that it's not good style if you don't actually need it (like to wrap a C++ lib).


The number of iOS examples using Objective-C++ is pretty minimal, IIRC.


Any exemplary open source apps out there?


http://www.wunderlist.com/ Amazing to learn it was free of cost, then to learn it was free i nearly shat myself.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: