Brendan G. Lim - iOS 7 in Action

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ISBN: 9781617291425

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We wrote this book as a guide that you can count on and refer to as you develop your own apps for iOS using the iOS 7 SDK. We tried to cover topics in a simple and immersive waya way that allows you to learn by getting your hands dirty. Its always easier to learn something new by doing, and thats exactly what youll find in this book, and thats what defines books in the In Action series. The book will allow you to learn at your own pace by building real-world applications for each of the topics covered in each of the chapters.

We assume that youre already motivated to write your own iOS apps and want to get started right away, so we wont spend much time convincing you. If youve never created an app before, rest assured that you will have created your very first one after the first chapter. This book will act as your trusted guide whether you want to dive into iOS development, or only want to learn how to use the new features available in iOS.

Youll learn what makes up an iOS application and thus gain a deep understanding of its different components. These many components have to come together to make an app truly great. As you go along, the topics youll learn will give you the knowledge you need to build more impressive apps on your own. And then we will have succeeded in what we set out to do!

Many people helped bring this book to fruitionmentors, colleagues, reviewers, editors, friends, and family. We thank you all.

The reviewers who read the manuscript in various stages of its development and provided invaluable feedback: Albert Choy, Andreas Walsh, Brent Stains, Chris Catalfo, Daniel Zajork, David Cabrero, Ecil Teodor, Gavin Whyte, John D. Lewis, Jonathan Twaddell, Mayur Patil, Moses Yeung, Richard Lebel, Stephen Wakely, Steve Tibbett, Yousef Ourabi, and Zorodzayi Mukuya.

The readers of Mannings Early Access Program (MEAP) for their comments and their corrections to our chapters as they were being written. You helped make this a better book.

Our technical proofreader, Joe Smith, who reviewed the manuscript one last time shortly before it went into production.

Finally, the team at Manning who worked with us and supported us, and allowed one of us (Brendan) to do this for a second time: Marjan Bace, Scott Meyers, Jennifer Stout, Kevin Sullivan, Linda Recktenwald, Alyson Brener, and the many others who helped along the way.

Id like to dedicate this book to my extremely loving and supportive wife, Edelweiss. Knowing what the experience would be like from the first book I wrote, she still had the patience to encourage me to finish my second. To my father, Chhorn, who has always pushed me to work hard and has been the best role model anybody could ask for: I can only hope to have a few of the many accomplishments you have achieved. To my mother, Brenda, who is the nicest and most caring and loving person Ill ever know: I strive to be as loving and caring as you are, and to carry myself with the same smile that you always have on your face. Without the two of you, I wouldnt be in this world, and I owe everything to you both. To my two brothers, Chhorn and Chhun, who have always been so supportive of me. To my niece, Madelyn and my nephew, Bryent and to the other members of my family: Edwin, Leticia, Mark, Beth, and Lisa. To all of my friends who have contributed directly and indirectly to the book.

The following (and not limited to this book) is dedicated to the memory of my little mentor, the one who taught me how to fight the unbearable and taught me The Meaning. To you and your life: youre still teaching me how to be a better man. Without a word. As it should be. Id also like to thank Victoria, who opened the gate to the garden and whom I admire and love profoundly. To my dear father, Juan Jos, my lovely mother, Maria Teresa, my wonderful sister, Lucia, and to my dearest friend, Ezequiel. These four incredible human beings have shaped me to be who I am today: thank you very much.

If youre interested in developing apps for iOS, then this book is for you.

There are a few prerequisites to be able to use the book effectively. First, you need to be interested in developing apps for iOS. You should have a Mac or at least a computer thats running OS X. Also, although object-oriented methodologies and Objective-C are covered in the appendix, its helpful to have an understanding of both.

With the prerequisites out of the way, this book is beneficial for developers new to iOS or those who are experienced iOS developers who want to learn more about creating apps for iOS. The book is structured so that you can skip a chapter if you already have a good understanding of the topic. Most of the chapters and the apps we create in them are atomic to allow you to read just the ones you need if youre already experienced.

This book has 14 chapters and is divided into 3 parts.

gets your development environment up and running, teaches you about iOS fundamentals, and lets you build your first application.

gives you an in-depth look at views, controls, and the view coordinate system. You also take a look at view controllers and how to support multiple orientations. This is done while enhancing the application that you built in the first chapter.

teaches you how to use storyboarding to organize the view controllers in your application. Well use different scenes and show you how to transition and pass data between them by creating a task management app.

introduces you to table views, table view controllers, and prototype cells so that you can organize and present data as lists. Youll use a table view of albums in the Photos application.