Patrick Alessi - Professional iOS Database Application Programming

CONTENTS

Professional iOS Database Application Programming, Second Edition

Published by

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-39184-6

ISBN: 978-1-118-39185-3 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-41757-7 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-72836-9 (ebk)

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For CherylWithout you, this would have never been possible.

CREDITS

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR

Mary James

PROJECT EDITOR

Brian MacDonald

TECHNICAL EDITOR

Michael Gilbert

PRODUCTION EDITOR

Christine Mugnolo

COPY EDITOR

Karen A. Gill

EDITORIAL MANAGER

Mary Beth Wakefield

FREELANCER EDITORIAL MANAGER

Rosemarie Graham

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

David Mayhew

MARKETING MANAGER

Ashley Zurcher

BUSINESS MANAGER

Amy Knies

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Tim Tate

VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE GROUP PUBLISHER

Richard Swadley

VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER

Neil Edde

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Jim Minatel

PROJECT COORDINATOR, COVER

Katie Crocker

PROOFREADER

Sarah Kaikini, Word One New York

INDEXER

Robert Swanson

COVER DESIGNER

Elizabeth Brooks

COVER IMAGE

naphtalina / iStockphoto

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PATRICK ALESSI has been fascinated with writing computer programs since he first saw his name flash across a terminal in 1980. Since then, he has written software using every language and hardware platform that he could get his hands on, including a brief and painful foray into Fortran on a VAX system during his engineering education. Patrick holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University and an MS in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Professionally, Patrick has focused on data-centric applications for clients ranging from small business databases to large-scale systems for the United States Air Force. Currently, he is focused on the promise of mobility and developing connected applications for mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

When he can back away from the computer, Patrick enjoys gaming (especially Starcraft ), photography, traveling, and doing just about anything with his family. You can follow him on Twitter at pwalessi and read his blog at iphonedevsphere.blogspot.com .

ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EDITOR

MICHAEL GILBERT is a long-time systems programmer for various engineering firms. He got his start developing games for the Atari ST, and he was a frequent contributing editor for STart magazine. Over the years, he has continued to develop gaming software on PC and Mac for clients worldwide. Hes also an expert Flash ActionScript programmer and has produced a popular Internet gaming environment called HigherGames. He now enjoys developing games for the iPhone and iPad, and currently has several games in the AppStore, with more on the way. In his spare time, he enjoys trying to defeat his wife Janeen in a friendly game of Scrabble.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK everyone who made this book possible. Mary James, my acquisitions editor, shepherded this second edition through the acquisitions process. My project editor, Brian MacDonald, was there to answer every question that I had about writing and the publishing process. Mike Gilbert, my technical editor, gave up valuable app development time to review my work. I would also like to thank all the other editorial and production staff that put many hours into this project to help get it to print.

I cannot thank my wife, Cheryl, and my stepdaughter, Morgan, enough for putting up with my fits, general crankiness, and lack of time for fun family activities as I worked my way through writing this book. Your patience with me is astounding. I want to thank my Mom for introducing me to computers at a very young age and teaching me the basics. Finally, I want to thank my Dad for pushing me to work hard and for showing me how to be a father.

INTRODUCTION

WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE IPHONE, Apple revolutionized the mobile computing market. The iPhone transformed the mobile phone from a device that you could use to make calls, check e-mail, and look up movie times into a computer that could run almost any type of application. Since the iPhones release in 2007, developers have written over 700,000 applications that run on iOS devices. These apps encompass many categories, including games, utilities, social networking, reference, navigation, and business, among many others.