Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide, 2nd Edition

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, 2nd Edition 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

Table of Contents

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

Part II. How Programming Works
Chapter 3. Variables and Types
Chapter 4. if/else
Chapter 5. Functions
Chapter 6. Format Strings
Chapter 7. Numbers
Chapter 8. Loops
Chapter 9. Addresses and Pointers
Chapter 10. Pass-By-Reference
Chapter 11. Structs
Chapter 12. The Heap

Part III. Objective-C and Foundation
Chapter 13. Objects
Chapter 14. More Messages
Chapter 15. Objects and Memory
Chapter 16. NSString
Chapter 17. NSArray
Chapter 18. Your First Class
Chapter 19. Properties
Chapter 20. Inheritance
Chapter 21. Object Instance Variables and Properties
Chapter 22. Class Extensions
Chapter 23. Preventing Memory Leaks
Chapter 24. Collection Classes
Chapter 25. Constants
Chapter 26. Writing Files with NSString and NSData
Chapter 27. Callbacks
Chapter 28. Blocks
Chapter 29. Protocols
Chapter 30. Property Lists

Part IV. Event-Driven Applications
Chapter 31. Your First iOS Application
Chapter 32. Your First Cocoa Application

Part V. Advanced Objective-C
Chapter 33. init
Chapter 34. More about Properties
Chapter 35. Key-Value coding
Chapter 36. Key-Value Observing
Chapter 37. Categories

Part VI. Advanced C
Chapter 38. Bitwise Operations
Chapter 39. C Strings
Chapter 40. C Arrays
Chapter 41. Running from the Command Line
Chapter 42. Switch Statements